


On your marks, get set, sew!

by rainbow_nerds



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Bottom Steve Rogers, Embedded Images, Eventual Smut, Flirting, Fluff, Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, Lingerie, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Mutual Pining, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-World War II Bucky Barnes, Sewing, Social Media, Switching, Top Bucky Barnes, Top Steve Rogers, gratuitous innuendo, handjobs, passing glance from a secret relationship tag in the epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 54,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24027292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_nerds/pseuds/rainbow_nerds
Summary: Steve found the Sewing Bee by chance when looking for something to play in the background while he worked, and he was immediately enamored by the show. Everything from the judges, to the stupidly attractive host, not to mention the skill of the contestants and their obvious camaraderie appealed to him. So he applied, and managed to make it on the show.He just hoped that the presence of the previously mentioned stupidly attractive host wouldn't manage to distract him from his bid to win.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 304
Kudos: 302





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little chapter to start off this self indulgent fic I'm working on at the moment! I have the first main chapter written, and part of chapter two and I'm going to try and stay at least one chapter ahead of what's posted. There won't be a regular posting schedule for that reason.  
> Thanks/blame to the NASBB discord crew for encouraging this.

Sewing was never something that Steve had expected to be good at it. He was an artist, and a pretty good one if he said so himself, and he had never really needed another creative outlet beyond that. His mom had always had a sewing machine set up in the house when he was a child, though, and she had made sure he was able to hem his own trousers, sew on buttons, and patch ripped clothes. 

Growing up, he had accumulated a lot of ripped clothes, between picking fights and being slightly uncoordinated in general, so this proved to be a very useful skill.

Beyond the basics though, sewing had been of very little interest to him. It wasn’t until after Sarah had passed away and Steve found himself in the midst of a severe artist’s block, at a loss for what to paint, that he had turned to her old sewing machine. He found some fabric scraps and patterns of hers and tried it out, and he had never looked back.

He still made his living through art commissions, but sewing rapidly became his refuge. 

He found the Sewing Bee by chance when looking for something to play in the background while he worked, and he was immediately enamored by the show. Everything from the judges to the stupidly attractive host, not to mention the skill of the contestants and their obvious camaraderie appealed to him. He hardly even considered applying at first, but he filled out the form on a whim when he saw the call for entrants at the end of an episode. He attached some pictures of garments he had made for the local high school plays along with some pieces he had made for himself over the years, and put the application out of his mind.

He had almost forgotten about it until he got the callback, and before he knew it he was on the show.

He had not mentioned at any point in the application process that he had more than a little bit of a crush on one of the show’s hosts, but he figured that would only be an issue if he made it one.

Bucky Barnes was, well. He was exactly Steve’s type. Not only was he ridiculously attractive, with that smirk and those thighs and _Jesus Christ_ those arms, but he also had a cool confidence and a caring nature which he used to put the contestants at ease every episode, his soothing voice poking fun when appropriate and reassuring where necessary. 

So yeah, Steve had a bit of a crush. But he tried his best to push that out of his head as he prepared for the first day in the sewing room. He may not have put a lot of thought into his application initially, but now that he was in, he was all in. 

He had a competitive streak a mile wide, and he had never tried to hide it.

The contestants had all been invited to a preliminary meeting with the crew in advance of the first day of shooting, and Steve walked in with his head held high, looking around to scope out the competition, but reminding himself that this was not a cut-throat kind of show.

The judges were interesting, to say the least. Steve had done his research on them, and he hoped he would be able to win them over. Pepper Potts was no-nonsense and perfectly put together. She had the clear confidence of someone who had been in the fashion business long enough to have seen past the glamour and show-offishness and was unafraid to state clearly when something didn’t live up to her expectations. Loki, on the other hand, was more of a maverick in the world of design, and had gained a reputation for bold choices and designs which always broke the rules in one way or another. Finding a way to appeal to them both would be an interesting line to tread, but Steve always relished seemingly impossible tasks.

The meeting was a relaxed affair, thankfully, just a brief greeting from the studio executives, and then short introductions from the producers and director. The contestants were then served quite a fancy lunch and encouraged to bond with each other.

Steve looked around him, trying to take stock of everyone. He eyed what they were wearing; all very different styles, but they had all clearly chosen items which they had made themselves and were proud of. He didn’t blame them - he had sewn his vest himself, from a pair of curtains he had found at goodwill. One glance at the navy fabric with gold stars and moons and he had been determined to make something of it; he had been particularly proud of the pattern matching on the seams, even if it had taken him several hours of painstaking effort to achieve it.

There were eight contestants in total; apart from him there were three other men, and four women. They all got along reasonably well, though Steve picked out a few who could potentially be serious competition. Shuri, for one, had a confidence and skill which far surpassed her young age of seventeen. She was wearing an intricately constructed skirt with contrasting patterned fabrics, which somehow worked together seamlessly. Another challenger would be the woman who introduced herself as Natasha, who wore a far less noticeable black dress, deceptively simple looking but with some amazingly technical features, and perfectly fit to her body. 

Steve found himself laughing with Sam Wilson, who was open and friendly, and seemed to hardly care about the competitive nature of the Bee.

“I’m here to learn, man.” Sam said when Steve asked why he had entered. “I mean, I wanna get as far as I can, but if I go home having improved my skills and learned something, that’s all that matters.” Steve hummed in response. Sure, he wanted to get better too, but it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t at least a little interested in winning. He was about to change the subject and compliment Sam’s shirt, when he spotted someone walking into the room and felt his mouth go dry.

Bucky Barnes had arrived, and Steve quickly realized how fucked he was. He was even more attractive in person, his smile even more blinding. Steve would be out week one if he was going to be distracted by _that_ right across the room the entire time. He had to get his crush under control, and soon.

Barnes made an announcement to the room at large about how he liked to get to know the contestants a little before the show, so the banter would be natural, and Steve was really trying not to swallow his tongue. He made his way through the contestants, smiling and laughing, and Steve tried not to watch as he felt him getting closer.

“You okay man?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow, and Steve pulled himself back together.

“Oh, yeah I just-” He was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder which made him jump. He turned around to see who it was with a yelp, to be met with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Honestly, the camera did not do this man justice.

“Hope I’m not interrupting, just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Bucky.” He grinned and held out a hand, which Sam shook effortlessly, introducing himself and laughing along with Bucky’s comments. Steve was trying to think of anything to say which wouldn’t wind up humiliating himself, when Bucky turned to him.

“You’re Steven, right?” 

“Yeah, I-Steve” He managed to splutter a reply, and was relieved to hear that it was at least semi-coherent.

“Nice to meet you, Steve. Are you looking forward to getting started?” Bucky asked, and Steve felt himself at ease, Bucky’s attention somehow soothing his nerves effortlessly. He managed to make small talk for the few minutes Bucky was with them, and was actually disappointed to see him leave.

“Yeah, I am.” He replied. “I’m a big fan of the show, and I’m still not totally sure how I managed to get here.” He laughed, and his heart almost stopped when Bucky laughed right along with him.

The rest of the day passed without much incident, and Steve got home buzzing with anticipation for the weeks ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Art by the lovely [Nospheratt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nospheratt/)  
> Cover graphic assets by [Renata.s](https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/pattern) and [Macrovector](https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/fashion) for Freepik.


	2. Week 1 - Wardrobe Essentials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I know nothing about how reality shows work, especially in the US. The show this is based on is aggressively British and I made the choice not to change the structure, so I hope it works.

The morning of the first day of filming dawned bright and sunny, and Steve tried to ignore the niggling nerves he was feeling as he forced himself to eat something before his taxi arrived. When he arrived at the venue, he looked around in awe. It was an old building which looked like a former warehouse in the middle of the city, and the interior seemed to have been fully commandeered by the film crews. Steve signed in at the entrance with no small amount of trepidation. He was escorted up to a small locker room, where he was able to leave his coat and anything else he wouldn’t need for the shoot.

The sewing room was a lot larger than it looked on TV, with dividing walls between each sewing station - free from any personal touches, at least for now. Steve had brought some old pictures of his family, as well as some of him wearing his own designs, as per the request from the studio in the pack he had received after being accepted.

A few others had arrived before him, but he was relieved to see he wasn’t the last to arrive either. He waved at Sam, along with the woman who he was fairly sure had introduced herself as Carol on their first meeting.

The host and judges were nowhere to be seen just yet yet, most likely still getting themselves ready for the shoot, so Steve took time to set up his station, placing his own favourite pincushion and measuring tape on the table carefully. He knew they would be a mess before the first task ended, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to at least appear tidy in the beginning.

He checked over the sewing machine - a different model from his own, but it looked simple enough to use, no surprise features or finicky dials. By the time he had set up, everyone else had arrived, and he saw some crew members speaking to his fellow contestants. Before long, a young production assistant had approached him and begun instructing him on how the day would proceed.

Once the host and judges arrived, which should be soon, according to the production assistant - who introduced herself as Maria - they would be given the first task and the day would proceed from there. They would need to film brief “talking head” interviews after each task, and extras if they were sent home or won garment of the week. They also filled him in on the different types of tasks, and Steve nodded along, in spite of the fact that he already knew most of the information from having seen the show.

“So the first task is always the pattern challenge. It will be assigned by either Pepper or Loki, depending on the week, and you will be given a pattern to follow. Sometimes they will specify a type of fabric, but beyond that, all stylistic choices are your own. Task two will also be today, after lunch. You’ll be given an existing item of clothing or other fabric-based item, and it will be up to you to transform it using your design and sewing skills. Again, sometimes the judges will specify who it should be for, or a certain feature you should use, but the key is creativity here.

“Finally, we will have the made-to-measure task tomorrow. You should have received the outline for this task already, right?” Steve nodded to show he had, and the assistant carried on speaking, clearly reciting a script she had been given.

“So you’ll meet your model first thing in the morning, you can make any necessary changes to pattern sizing and then you have to make the garment to fit her perfectly. You’ll be judged on fit as well as the basic construction, so you should be careful there. Any questions?” Steve shook his head, only half paying attention, because he heard voices outside the room which he was fairly sure belonged to the judges, and a laugh which he was almost embarrassed to admit he recognised immediately as Bucky’s.

As soon as the assistant left him to help with finalising camera positions the door opened, and a large group entered. Steve busied himself with his personal effects and tried not to gawp. If Bucky had looked good the first time he had seen him, it was nothing to the way he was now; polished and camera ready, with his hair slicked back and clothes that highlighted every inch of his body. It was a lot to take in, and Steve tried not to look at him too closely. 

The judges called everyone around, and Steve found a spot amongst his fellow contestants, between Wanda - a young college student who spoke with an unidentifiable accent, and Phi - who claimed he worked in security but refused to say anything more specific.

A hush descended on the gathered contestants as the director stepped forward and counted down for the cameras to start rolling. Once they were filming, Pepper Potts and Loki stepped forwards to introduce themselves. Bucky was standing back for now, glancing between the judges and the contestants. Pepper smiled and greeted everyone.

“It’s great to be back in the sewing room. Loki and I are very excited to see what’s in store over the next six weeks! My name is Pepper Potts, I have been working in the fashion industry for almost two decades now, and I like to think I know quality garments when I see them. I will be looking for impeccable precision and cohesive designs within every task, and I am looking forward to seeing each of your unique takes on our tasks. Loki?”

The second judge stepped forward, and Steve felt unnerved by the way he moved. It was almost snakelike, and his smile was somehow threatening, rather than kind as Pepper’s had been.

“My name is Loki, of Asgard Design. I, too, am looking forward to the coming weeks, but I want to see you push yourselves beyond the expected. I want to see daring design choices, flawlessly orchestrated.”

His greeting was far less assuring than Pepper’s had been, and Steve glanced around, relieved to see that his fellow contestants had equally anxious expressions on their faces. There was a camera pointed at him, and Steve tried to look at least somewhat confident in himself. He thought back to all of the times he had been told he couldn’t do something, and felt a steely determination take over, shielding his nerves. 

He took a deep breath and looked back to the front just in time to see Bucky step forward and greet them. Their eyes met briefly, but his newfound determination thankfully overtook the butterflies he had felt earlier. Bucky blinked and turned his winning smile to the room at large.

“Well, here we go. Your first task, as always, is a pattern challenge! This week’s theme is going to be wardrobe essentials, so I’ll pass it over to Pepper for the outline. Pepper stepped forward again, holding a stack of patterns which, to the camera, must have seemed to come from nowhere, but the production assistant huddled in a corner said otherwise.

“Your pattern challenge this week is something which I think every home sewist should be able to make without too much difficulty. It’s a basic wrap skirt, closed with two buttons. You should choose your fabric carefully, and remember that if you choose a bold print, we will be looking for pattern matching on the seams.” Loki nodded in agreement, and finished up the assignment brief by announcing they would have ninety minutes to complete the task, before they were each handed a bundle of pattern pages and let loose on the fabric store and haberdashery, where everything from buttons and zips, to ribbons and boning material were available for use.

Steve glanced through the pattern quickly, taking stock of what it entailed, and then rushed into the store, where the nine other contestants were piled on top of each other, comparing prints and fabrics. Steve took stock, and spotted the perfect fabric. He rushed forward and reached up for it, but it was just out of reach. He glanced around for a step stool, which he was sure he had noticed earlier. Before he could go get it, though, he felt someone step close behind him and an arm reached up over his head, pulling down the bolt of fabric.

He turned, ready to yell at whoever it was who had stolen his fabric and saw Bucky, barely a few inches of space between them. Steve narrowed his eyes as Bucky handed him the fabric, which he grabbed with no small amount of irritation. He hated when people did things for him like that, all he had needed was a stool and he would have been fine. He turned, clutching the rainbow polka-dot cotton and storming off to find the perfect buttons to match. 

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess” Bucky commented sarcastically as he walked away, and Steve’s ears burned.

He turned his attention to sewing, making sure he cut out the fabric sections accurately from the bolt he had chosen and losing himself in the focus. He was double checking each segment against the pattern to make sure he had everything he needed before starting to sew, when he felt someone approach him. He glanced up to see Bucky leaning casually against his table, a camera not far behind him.

“So Steve, tell me about yourself.” Steve turned back to his work, silently cursing himself for thinking this was a good idea. He had to sell himself, to appear at least somewhat likeable for the cameras, or he would be in for a nightmare of a time online when the show aired. 

“Well, what do you wanna know?” He tried to push the irritation he felt at being interrupted out of his voice as he skirted the question, wracking his brain to think of something to say. He may have gone too far in the other direction, however, as he glanced up in time to see Bucky raise an eyebrow, a smirk edging its way across his face. Steve fought back a flush, playing back his comment in his mind and realising just how flirty it had sounded. He raised an eyebrow defiantly. He wasn’t about to backtrack now, so he turned back to his work and waited for Bucky to speak.

“Alright, then. I’ll bite. What brings you to the Sewing Bee?” Steve hummed as he pinned the front right panel to the back of the skirt, trying to keep the polka dots evenly spaced. 

“I love sewing. I wanted to prove I could get here, I guess.”

“And now you’re here?” Steve swept the pinned fabric off his work bench and met Bucky’s eyes with a quirked lip as he set it in the sewing machine.

“I want to go all the way.” He didn’t wink, but the way Bucky laughed told him the innuendo had come through clear enough. 

“I like you, Steve Rogers. I’ll let you get back to sewing.” The camera operator gave them a thumbs up, and they walked off to check in on the person at the next table. Clint Barton was wrestling with a purple stretch fabric, and Steve had winced when he saw it. Stretch would be a nightmare with this pattern, and from the beginning of the conversation Steve heard between him and Bucky, it seemed he was beginning to realise his mistake, though was stubbornly refusing to change the fabric.

Steve refocused on his own work, and barely noticed the time pass, mind flickering between his sewing and the way Bucky had responded to his flirting. Had he flirted back or was Steve about to get pulled aside for inappropriate advances to the talent? 

“Ten minutes left!” Bucky’s voice shot through him and he looked around in a panic. Ten minutes? He still had to attach the waistband and sew on the buttons, and he hadn’t even started making the rouleau loops for the button holes. He scrambled to get it all done, and tried to ignore Bucky approaching him.

“Need a hand?” He asked, and Steve barely spared a glance up at him. 

“Could use an extra half hour if you have it?” Bucky laughed and apologised, before quickly moving on, clearly having sensed that now was not a good time for banter.

When the end of the challenge was announced, Steve had just barely finished. The loops were a little loose, and the waistband sagged a little at the back, but it wasn’t bad, all things considered. He finally allowed himself to look around at the others. Clint’s skirt was predictably lopsided, the stretch fabric working against him as it was wont to do. A few of them looked almost perfect, but Steve knew that his own probably looked fine from a distance, too. The judges would be sure to pick apart any tiny flaws they had in the garment.

There was a short break in filming before the judges came in, and Bucky disappeared somewhere, no doubt to touch up his already perfect hair. Steve sat and drained his water bottle, exchanging a tired yet relieved smile with Sam. 

He had barely relaxed, however, when Pepper and Loki approached the front of the sewing room and asked them to bring their work forward. Steve waited anxiously as they reiterated everything Steve had thought about Clint’s stretch fabric and Shuri’s technically perfect execution. They were quite nice about the fact that Sam’s waistband had somehow shrunk almost an inch from the pattern, and the fact that Phil hadn’t actually managed to get his buttons sewn on properly, popping off of the single thread holding them to the fabric as soon as Loki reached out to inspect them.

They got to Steve’s then, and he held his breath while they looked it over. He exhaled as they complimented the way he had lined up the polka dots, but they noticed the clear haste in the rouleaus and the sagging waistline. He nodded in agreement with them, not able to reply with anything other than an “I know. Thank you”. Before he knew it, they had moved on to Natasha’s red masterpiece, but he was too relieved to pay much attention. By the time they had gotten through the last two contestants - Wanda and Carol both having some subtle flaws, but nothing major - Steve felt about ready to collapse and sleep for a week. 

Loki stepped forward and glanced at each of the garments. 

“We will now rank the garments in order from worst to best.” Steve’s heart stuttered. He had forgotten this part. He waited anxiously, hearing them call out name after name. Finally, they called his name.

“Fourth place: Steve. You made a good attempt, it was just a little rushed towards the end.” He sighed in relief and sagged a little. He could deal with fourth. It was average, sure, but this was the first task and he had never been one for peaking early. As long as he wasn’t last, he could handle it - at least for now.

After they had announced Shuri as the winner of the challenge, and offered congratulations, the cameras stopped rolling and another of the seemingly endless production assistants came forward.

“Alright, we’re going to take a break now, but we will be calling you out one by one to give a quick interview on your thoughts after the first challenge, so don’t stray too far. We have a cafeteria downstairs where you can eat, and there’s a small courtyard if you need air, but please don’t leave the premises.” They all voiced their assent, and descended into chatter about how they felt about the task.

“I knew that fabric was gonna be a nightmare, I just got carried away with the aesthetic.” Clint moaned into his coffee mug, while Phil tried to reassure him.

“I didn’t expect to be so tied up for time already, I have no idea how I’ll survive when the patterns get more difficult” Wanda looked anxious, and Carol laughed in agreement.

“I’m gonna think about that when and if I get into a later week. I was lucky not to come last, I mean I barely finished!” Phil lamented. Steve didn’t say much, just tried to center himself for his first one-on-one interview. They were called out one at a time, and Steve was halfway through his tea when he was called out. He stood in the corridor in front of a brick wall while lighting and camera angles were checked. 

“So how do you feel coming from that challenge?” Maria asked, and Steve exhaled heavily. 

“Well, it was tough, honestly. I’m going to have to pay closer attention to the time in future, I got carried away a little.” He rubbed the back of his next, feeling strange with the camera so close. He kept glancing into the lens as the interview progressed, prompting Maria to cough at him, reminding him to look at her. It only took about five minutes, and then the cameraman nodded, and Steve was told he could head back out, and to send Wanda in.

Before he knew it, their break was finished and they were being ushered back in for the transformation challenge. When watching the show, this was always the most interesting part of the episodes. Steve always found himself either in awe of the creativity, or yelling at the screen wondering why someone had ever thought that was a good idea. He regularly felt himself coming up with his own ideas for what he would do if he were in their position, so he hoped that would bode well for him here.

There was a covered mannequin in the middle of the room, which was flanked by Pepper and Loki. The cameras were already rolling as the contestants made their way into the room, and Steve felt his nerves flare up again. Bucky appeared from nowhere to introduce the task.

“Welcome back, sewists! This is your transformation challenge. You’ll be given an existing item of clothing, and it’s up to you to transform it into something totally new. Loki, would you like to reveal what they will be working with today?” Loki nodded and stepped up to the mannequin. He removed the cover with a flourish, revealing a simple men’s shirt.

“You can use as many shirts as you need, we have a collection behind the curtain over there,” He gestured to the other end of the room, “But we really want to see something unique. I want you to create a piece of women’s clothing, but beyond that it is your choice.” Loki stepped back and Bucky took over again.

“You can use anything you like from the haberdashery, but no fabric other than the shirts. Your hour starts now!” Steve’s mind was whirling between ideas, and he ran back to grab as many shirts as he could carry, an idea beginning to form. As quickly as he could, back at his station, he began cutting off the cuffs and putting the rest in a pile next to him. He opened the cuffs and laid them out, overlapping slightly. He didn’t pause to reflect, just started pinning and sewing them together to form a single piece of fabric. He didn’t have much of a plan beyond that, but he hoped it would come to him as he worked. 

He wasn’t even a third of the way through the cuffs when he glanced up to see fifteen minutes had already passed. Shit. He worked faster, redoubling his efforts. Bucky approached him shortly after that.

“So I gotta say, I have no idea what you are making.” He spoke without preamble, and Steve laughed through the dozen pins in his mouth, then pricked himself on the tongue and tried to spit them out as gracefully as possible without stopping his sewing.

“Honestly? Neither do I. This was a terrible idea.” He grimaced, glancing up to see Bucky’s dumbfounded expression. 

“That’s not particularly reassuring there, Steve.” Steve shrugged and picked up the next set of cuffs, adding them to the block.

“I’ve made my bed, I gotta lie in it. It’s been nice meeting ya Bucky, but this may be the end of the line for me.” 

“Nice as your bed sounds, Rogers, I have more faith in you than that. Anything I can do to help?” Steve paused and glanced at the chaos around him. 

“What’s the time left?” He asked, and Bucky checked his watch. 

“Just about twenty minutes to go?” Steve nodded, determined. 

“Get me a zipper.” Bucky gave him a thumbs up and turned to jog to the haberdashery. Steve tried and failed not to watch his ass as he retreated, but shook himself out of it in time to add a couple more cuffs to his fabric before he returned. He had just shy of a yard of fabric cobbled together, and he hoped it would be enough.

He wrapped it around the dressform, pinning it directly to the body.

“Just leave it there!” He told Bucky when he came back, through the pins which had once again accumulated between his lips, and Bucky did as he was told before snapping a salute and retreating. 

Jesus, that was hot. Steve took a gulp of water to keep himself from dwelling on it, and went back to his sewing. 

He pinned and marked the fabric, before removing it from the mannequin and starting to add the zip. Bucky had selected a variety of zips, including one which was chunky and bright pink. It was an odd choice, but it actually contrasted nicely with the blues and whites of the cuffs. 

“Two minutes left!” Bucky called from across the room, and Steve swore. There was no waistline, and he hadn’t fully closed the back of the skirt. He rapidly ran it through the machine, so at least the skirt wasn’t totally open below the zip, and just about wrestled it onto the mannequin when the timer went off.

Steve allowed himself to glance around at what the others had made. There was an interesting variety - from simple smock dresses, to more avant-garde constructions. Steve began to doubt his own work, the garment construction not particularly complex, nor the sewing particularly skilled. He had spent the majority of the time actually making his fabric, and he hoped that the judges would at least commend him for the idea.

“Please bring your pieces forward, and be sure to mix them up so the judges don’t know who made what!” Steve placed his skirt between Wanda’s halter dress and Natasha’s corset. He went back to sit at his station and waited anxiously for the results.

The judges entered and silently walked up and down the line of former shirts. Occasionally they would comment on a stylistic choice or a particular skill which had been utilised. When they got to Steve’s piece, he saw them exchange a look which he couldn’t quite place. He felt something clench in his stomach but they moved on without comment. 

Finally, they turned back to look at each contestant individually.

“We are going to rank these pieces in order now.” Loki said.

“In eighth place, we have this tunic dress.” Pepper announced, before elaborating. “It’s well made, but not particularly creative. You didn’t really change much beyond cutting off the sleeves, I’m afraid.” Phil nodded, jaw clenched as they moved on to announce seventh place. Steve felt himself relax with each place they announced, relieved not to hear his own piece acknowledged just yet.

“Third place goes to this miniskirt.” Steve managed a smile as he looked up to them. “It was a little bit rushed I think, but you used the material in a very unique way. We see elements of the shirts in the cuffs, but they are totally transformed into something new. Great job.” Steve’s smile exploded into something even brighter and he sagged in relief. Thank god it had paid off, he never would have forgiven himself for biting off more than he could chew had he failed.

Once the judging was complete, the contestants were informed they would be filming another short interview each the following day, before the made-to-measure challenge, and they should try to arrive early. After that, they were free for the evening.

“Get some sleep tonight people, it’s going to be another busy day tomorrow!” the director called, and Steve followed his fellow contestants into the room where they had left their belongings, conversations overlapping with a combination of relief and dismay.

“That skirt was fantastic Steve, what gave you the idea?” He turned around to see Wanda, and he smiled at her, thanking her for the compliment.

“Insanity, I think. I had no clue what it was going to be till I finished! Your halter dress was great, I love the way you used the sleeves for the ties.” She grinned at him as they put on their coats.

“Thanks. Are you ready for tomorrow?” 

“Hopefully. But if it’s anything like today I’m going to need to buy myself a watch.” They laughed and left the room, going down to the street level. They parted ways at the door, and Steve spotted a car just down the street. Bucky was standing next to it, talking to the driver. He looked up and spotted Steve, waving to him with a wink before climbing in the front seat. 

Steve blushed in spite of himself and turned to head home. He had gotten a taxi that morning, but he figured after a day almost entirely indoors, a walk was welcome.

He spent the night poring over his pattern for the following day, making notes about what stage he should have reached by which time mark. He fell into bed earlier than he usually would, and fell asleep almost immediately, worn out from the day.

He was back in the studio shortly after eight the next morning, coffee in hand. Their call time was officially nine, but he had woken early and didn’t want to spend the morning overthinking everything unproductively at home.

He stowed his belongings in the locker room, and went over his pattern notes again. The challenge was to make a simple summer dress, and he had spent days thinking of different concepts when he had gotten the brief, along with all of the other made-to-measure briefs back when he had gotten accepted to the show.

He had eventually decided on a tea-length dress with a sweetheart neckline and a circle skirt, in a white fabric adorned with palm leaves. There were pockets on the front and he intended to pattern-match across the entire dress. It was a difficult task, but hopefully not impossible, given that they were only going to get more difficult as the weeks went on.

He was sitting in the contestant’s area alone for a short time, but Shuri and Carol both showed up not long after him and greeted him before retreating to examine their own patterns. The others gradually filtered in over the next hour, with Clint barely arriving as their call time hit. They were called to interview in the order that they had signed in, so Steve was up first. As he went out to the hallway where they had filmed the previous day, he spotted the judges and Bucky heading towards a meeting room in the other direction. Steve noticed that they must not have all gone through hair and makeup yet, as Bucky’s hair was loose and curly, a big contrast to the heavily styled look he always sported on camera. 

He greeted them and tried to look casual. Pepper returned the gesture, while Loki just raised an eyebrow. Bucky, on the other hand, looked at him with wide eyes, before ducking his head and carrying on down the corridor. If Steve didn’t know better, he would have thought there was a faint blush on his cheeks. Steve thought that the behaviour was odd, but he continued on and gave his interview without too much difficulty. He was back to his pattern within fifteen minutes.

By the time they were allowed back into the sewing room, Steve was feeling tentatively confident in his ability to get through the day and maybe even secure a decent score if he was lucky. They were briefed again on the task, and then the models were brought in.

A trail of women came in, and each found the table which they had evidently been instructed to locate already. The woman who approached Steve was beautiful, and he smiled at her awkwardly. How do you introduce yourself to someone who you will very soon be partially undressing and measuring every part of their body?

“Hi, I’m Steve,” he went with simple, holding out a hand to shake.

“Peggy, pleasure to meet you.” She smiled and shook his hand. He exhaled, centering himself and settling in to making small talk with her until the task started. He found himself looking at her, trying to deduce which measurements would most need to change to fit the garment, but at the same time trying not to seem creepy or lecherous. 

God, this was awkward. He wished the task would just start already, so he could get a measuring tape in his hands and gain a clear professional boundary. After what felt like days, the judges walked in with Bucky, now fully groomed, and took their spots at the top of the room. 

“Welcome back, sewists, and welcome to our models!” Pepper announced as the cameras started rolling.

“It’s a new day and a new challenge. I trust you all got a good night’s sleep, and are prepared for another busy day.”

“As you know,” Loki took over, “Your task is to make a summer dress, perfectly tailored to your model’s measurements. You will have five hours, and we will be in the room this time, observing you as you work.” Steve turned to glance at the others, eyes wide, and saw Sam doing the same. He had forgotten that the judges would be stopping by during this process.

The time started, and Steve immediately grabbed his measuring tape and asked Peggy to stand. She did so, thankfully used to being measured for fittings if the way she held her arms aloft automatically was any indicator. Now that he was in the challenge, he had no qualms about measuring her, jotting down the numbers and doing some quick calculations to work out how the pattern would need to be adjusted. 

He wasn’t the first to start cutting out his pattern pieces, but a quick glance showed him that at least he wasn’t the last. 

Pepper approached him just as he was pinning down the pattern to mark the skirt’s circumference.

“So tell me about your dress, Steve.” He swallowed, and stammered out a reply, gesturing to the image on the pattern and indicating the changes he had made. Pepper nodded and looked thoughtful. 

“Not bad. The pattern is a little simple, so I will expect it to be executed very well.” Steve nodded almost manically as she walked away, and looked at Peggy.

“You’ll be fine,” she said, and Steve kept nodding until she looked pointedly at the pattern and he jumped, getting back to work. 

The next time he was interrupted was by Bucky, just as he was finished cutting the last of his pattern pieces and was arranging them on the table. 

“So I hear you’re going for the tropical theme, is that right?” Steve nodded and tried to lean nonchalantly on the table, but overcompensated and almost bashed his chin against the sewing machine. Bucky reached out and caught him, his hand suddenly grabbing Steve’s arm and almost entirely encircling it. 

Steve felt himself blush again. He really needed to get a handle on this crush.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, extracting his arm and busying himself in fabric arranging.

“I mean, I’m used to guys falling for me, but this is a new record.” Bucky quipped and Steve managed an exasperated look. 

“Oh you wish, Barnes.” Bucky winked again and Steve shook his head in exasperation. 

“So, tropical theme?” He asked again, and Steve said something about why he had chosen the fabric, the way the light cotton would hang, and how the pattern would flow across the garment. Bucky nodded along as he spoke.

“Hmm, well it seems like you know what you’re doing here, so I’ll leave you to it, as long as you’re sure you can stay on your feet.” Bucky backed away before turning to speak to someone else, and Steve redoubled his attention on his sewing. Peggy hummed and raised an eyebrow at him, to which he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” he mumbled in her direction as he pinned and adjusted the fabric.

The time ticked on, and Steve’s dress was starting to come together. He gradually got accustomed to the interruptions from Bucky and the judges; When they approached him, he managed to answer the judges questions, and flirting with Bucky actually started to work as a balm to his nerves if he found himself getting wound up. He still had a constant awareness of where they were in the room, and pricked himself more than once with nerves when someone came close, but he got through it.

He was still on schedule when the hour-mark was called, and he asked Peggy to try on the incomplete garment so he could check the fit and adjust if necessary. He looked around while she changed, taking stock of what everyone else was doing. 

He wasn’t the only one who had asked their model to try on their dresses, as he saw Natasha and Carol both circling their models, pinning and adjusting the fabric. Sam looked to be adding darts to the bodice, while Shuri was doing something with pockets. Phil seemed to be doing the same as Steve, and they exchanged a smile while they waited to fit their models. Wanda and Clint were both hunched under their sewing machines, and Steve hoped they were going to be alright for time.

Peggy came out and Steve sighed in relief. The dress wasn’t perfect, but there were only small fixes to sizing needed. The waistline was a bit loose, so he pinned the dress to the right size and checked to make sure the skirt hung evenly around the hem. He would have to change the length of the straps, too, but beyond that he was on track. He nodded to her and indicated she could change out of it again.

When he got the dress back, he dove into work on the final adjustments, feeling the time tick by as he sewed. 

“Ten minutes left, everyone! You should be getting your garments on your models by this stage!” Steve swore under his breath. He was still adjusting the straps and they would need to be reattached.

“Peggy, do you mind if I attach the straps while you’re wearing it?” He asked with an apologetic smile. She returned the smile cheerily.

“This isn’t my first job like this, I’ve had zips attached while I was wearing the garment before. I’ll be right back.” She took the dress from where it was hanging, and went behind the screen to put it on. Steve finished the straps just as she emerged, and grabbed a needle and thread to hand sew the straps. They wouldn’t be the strongest, but at least the dress would technically be finished.

He just about managed it, and was trying to smooth out the skirt when Bucky called time. 

“Step away from your models, your time is up!” He looked around at each of them in turn, pausing when he spotted Clint with the dress still on the table, sewing in a zipper.

“Clint, get that dress on the model!” He nodded frantically, and did as he was told. The judges called them up one by one to assess their work. Steve listened to each of the comments with a now familiar knot in his stomach. 

“A bit sloppy, but well thought out.”

“Absolutely beautiful work.”

“An interesting choice of fabric, but I think it works.”

“The fit is a little off, but it’s a well-crafted garment.”

“It looks a little unfinished, I see you didn’t attach the sleeves which were in the original pattern?”

“The contrasting piping around the neckline was an excellent choice”

“You had a bit of an issue with pattern matching in the back, but the fit is impeccable. Well done.”

Finally, Steve was called forward. He stood and watched while Peggy walked up the catwalk and turned, the skirt swishing out as she spun on the spot. She paused and tucked her hand in one of the pockets, before walking back the length of the catwalk and standing in front of the judges. Steve shot her a thumbs up, and he saw the shadow of a grin cross her face, while Pepper and Loki circled her.

“I hardly even noticed the pocket there, the pattern matching is very well executed.” Pepper acknowledged.

“Yes, very true. I do notice the straps are positioned a little oddly here. You attached them on the model, is that correct?” Loki looked at Steve for clarification but he could only nod. 

“It’s well made, but the design is rather simplistic overall.” They finished inspecting the garment, and finally asked him to sit back down as they had done for the other contestants.

“Loki and I have a lot of thinking to do. We are going to take some time to confer, and then we will announce the winner of garment of the week, as well as who will be leaving us this week.

Steve’s heart was racing as Peggy left to change out of the dress.

“I was so caught up in sewing, I forgot one of us would be leaving already.” Steve turned to see Sam standing beside him.

“I know, I just hope I did enough.” Steve bit his lip anxiously, replaying everything the judges had said about his garments.

“I don’t think either of you are in too much danger,” Clint had joined their group. “I have a feeling my head’s gonna be on the chopping block though, I totally blew it.” 

“That’s not true! Your transformation was fourth place, and you were rushed with the final challenge, but it was still a solid garment.” Sam reassured him, and he shrugged. Before they knew it, all eight sewists had gathered together, discussing how they felt they had done and complimenting each other’s work.

Phil and Clint were both sure they were going home, while opinion was divided as to whether the garment of the week would go to Carol’s grunge-inspired summer dress, or Shuri’s metallic one.

When the judges returned, a hush descended in the room. The cameras started rolling, and everyone gathered together in what rather felt like a firing line.

“It’s been a great first week, and we have loved getting to know each one of you.” Bucky began to speak.

“First, I’m going to announce who has won garment of the week. Loki?” Loki stepped forward to the covered mannequin in the corner, which Steve had hardly noticed before.

“A bold take on the concept of a summer dress, with some very interesting structural features. The garment of the week this week is Shuri’s beautiful silver summer dress!” He pulled off the cover and Shuri shouted with glee, fistpumping the air. They didn’t get too much time to react, however, because Bucky was stepping forward again.

“And now for the sad news. the person who will be leaving us this week. The judges debated back and forth over this, but it is with heavy heart that I have to say the person leaving the Sewing Bee is Phil.” Clint gasped audibly, and Phil hung his head. 

Bucky was speaking again, but the contestants had descended on each other, hugging Phil in consolation, and clapping Shuri on the back.

Gradually, the tight circle dispersed, and the judges joined them. 

“Congratulations, Shuri, Keep up the good work.”

“Clint, I think you know it was close this week, so you need to prove we made the right choice next week.” He nodded vigorously, clenching his jaw in determination. Steve found himself wrapped up in the mixed emotions of the group, between elation, disappointment and relief. He didn’t notice Bucky approach, but spun around when he heard his voice.

“So you live to see another week.” Steve nodded.

“Seems like it. I plan on seeing this through,though. You ain’t getting rid of me that easy.” Bucky laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, turning to speak to someone else, while Steve burned at the point of contact. 

When the joint celebration/commiseration wrapped up, Bucky re-took his place at the front of the room.

“Congratulations to all of you, whether you are staying or not there was some wonderful sewing done this week. I hope you manage to relax a little over the week to come, because next week is children’s week!” They all fell to murmuring amongst themselves again, theorising about what would be in store for the different challenges. They had been told the themes and made-to-measure challenges in advance, but they hadn’t been told anything beyond that. 

Steve wasn’t too anxious about children’s week, given his experience with costuming school plays, but he knew that some of the contestants had children of their own, and they would no doubt have an advantage coming into the week. He would need to go back over his notes and make changes to his plans, if he wanted to show he was taking the judges’ feedback to heart.

He almost skipped down the hallway to the common room. They had to do one more interview before they could go home, and he took stock of his thoughts on the week.

“So what do you plan to do before next week?” Maria asked him.

“”Well, first, I plan to sleep.” He laughed. “Honestly, this whole weekend was insane, But I can’t wait to do it all again. Like I said, I plan to see this through to the end. But I think my short term goal is to improve my timing, maybe take some more risks with design. I want to prove I deserve my place here, and I’ve never been one to settle for average.” 

The interview wrapped up, and he met up with the other contestants. They had arranged to go for dinner, both to see Phil off and to celebrate the end of their first week. Steve was exhausted but he decided to tag along as they went to the little mexican place down the street. The eight of them made for a rowdy bunch, but Steve had fun. 

He would miss Phil’s particular brand of enthusiasm, even if he hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know him. He could only wonder how much more difficult the goodbyes would become as the weeks progressed. Steve hoped he wouldn’t end up being the one making the farewell toast at the end of the night any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!   
> Week 2 is written but I want to stay a chapter ahead, so I will post that once I write week 3.  
> Let me know if you like the tweets, or would like your username in the fic, because coming up with twitter handles is gonna get tiring!


	3. Week 2 - Children's wear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have posted my sketches for Steve's week 1 garments on tumblr [here](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/post/618663090931843072/have-a-sketch-of-some-of-the-garments-made-by) if anyone wants to have a look! I'll do the ones from this chapter over the weekend.  
> Enjoy!

As he made his way to the filming location on Saturday morning for week two of the competition, Steve was once again overwhelmed with nerves for what was to come. He wondered if that was something which would go away as he got used to the process, or if it would just get worse the closer to the final he managed to get. He greeted Sam and Natasha, who had arrived before him and were talking in the locker room.

“How are you feeling for this week?” He asked them, and Sam shrugged.

“I have a niece and nephew, plus some young cousins I’ve made stuff for before, but it’s hard to know what they’re going to throw at us.” He replied.

“For me, I’m just thinking of it as regular clothes but smaller. I don’t really have much experience with children.” Natasha didn’t seem phased in the face of inexperience, and Steve had a feeling that she had probably done more research than he and Sam had combined.

“Yeah, that’s fair. I’ve done some costumes for kids, but that was mostly teenagers to be honest, so I’m not sure how relevant it will be really.” They nodded, and Steve turned to see Carol and Wanda entering the room together. They greeted each other, and the five of them continued discussing what they expected for the coming challenges. By the time Shuri and Clint had arrived, a lot of the anxiety pooling in Steve’s stomach had dissipated in favour of anticipation and pure stubborn refusal to mess up.

“It’s been a nightmare trying to balance practice and research with work, I wouldn’t be surprised if I lose my job by the end of this.” A round of agreement met Clint’s comment. 

Steve had had a busy week and he found himself struggling to keep up with his commissions, what with the amount of time he was spending on perfecting his made-to-measure pattern, and researching children’s clothes in the hopes that he would come across something which may be helpful with the pattern or transformation challenges.

“I work in a school, so I’m just glad they scheduled filming for the summer.” Sam added.

“Lucky! I’m in retail during my break from college, so the battle I had to fight to even get weekends off is not something I would like to repeat any time soon.” Wanda moaned, and Steve could immediately recognise which of the others had worked retail before by the sympathetic shudders they gave in response. The only ones who seemingly hadn’t were Shuri and Carol, but that made sense as Shuri was still in high school, and Carol had already said she had joined the air force straight after graduation.

They talked more, getting further and further from the subject of sewing. At one point, Steve mentioned his art, and they had all eagerly asked him to show them pictures of his work. It was mostly impersonal commissions, though there were a few pieces saved on his phone which he was proud of, and they  _ oohed  _ and  _ ahhed _ in appreciation. He was generally reluctant to share his art outside of his close friends, but it was nice to show it to a group of other creative people and have it appreciated.

Finally, they were called into the sewing room, and Steve went to his table, settling in and adjusting his displays. He glanced around at his fellow sewists, watching them all shed the light, easygoing postures they had had just moments before and settle into a more competitive stance. Occasionally someone would throw out a joke, and they would all laugh, but Steve knew that like him, the sight of Phil’s empty table had reminded them all of the competitive nature of the show. None of them wanted to be the next one to go.

When the host and judges arrived only a short few moments later, they all stood to attention and waited for the cameras to start rolling. 

“Welcome back, Sewists!” Bucky announced, once the camera crew had gestured that they were rolling. “Are you all excited for children’s week?” There were a few subdued cheers, but Steve just gave an awkward thumbs up. A slightly strained silence followed, and Bucky cleared his throat.

“Well, on that rousing note, I’ll hand you over to the judges.” He said, gesturing for Pepper and Loki to step forward.

“Now, as I’m sure you are all aware, children’s clothing requires some things which aren't there in adult clothes, particularly when you sew for babies and toddlers. They move differently, so their clothes are constructed differently.” Loki began, and Pepper picked up from there.

“They also need to be easy to change, so fiddly buttons and lacing are generally a no-no. Your pattern this week is one which will likely prove a challenge for these reasons.” She stepped forward to hand out the patterns, and Steve gulped when he saw the title. Loki continued the briefing.

“This pattern is for a babygrow. It’s designed to be simple to open and close, but that makes it all the more difficult to make. You will need to follow the instructions carefully, and attaching the snap fastenings will take precision.”

“There isn’t a lot of fabric required here, but I want you to make sure to select an appropriate fiber. We’re looking for something which will be soft, nonrestrictive, and most importantly, durable and easy to launder.”

“And, naturally, a pattern which is appropriate for a baby’s garment.” 

Steve blinked, taking all of the information in. This was a far more specific brief than the previous week, and he tried to keep it all straight in his mind.

“Well, sounds like you have a lot to keep in mind!” Bucky commented, once the judges had finished. “You will have two hours for this task; the tools for attaching the fasteners are here on this table. Your time starts now!” Steve collected the tools which would be required to make the garment, before going to the fabric store. He scanned the shelves, searching for a fabric which he had noticed the previous week but overlooked. When he spotted it, he marched over to retrieve it. When he reached the shelf, Bucky nudged the footstool over to him without comment, and Steve stepped onto it and grabbed the fabric, shooting Bucky a grateful glance. 

He spread it out when he was back at his station, the little pastel dinosaurs on scooters making him smile. It was a soft jersey, perfect for a babygrow. He turned his attention back to the pattern and got to work. Bucky didn’t interrupt him much this time, beyond asking him to describe his game plan for the challenge and whether he had ever attached snap fastenings before.

“I almost did, once, for a local high school play,” he answered, “There was a quick change, so the garment needed to be pulled off in a hurry. I did one fastening, then gave up and used Velcro. This is going to be a struggle, honestly.” 

“Yikes.” Bucky winced in sympathy. “Bet you wish you’d been stubborn enough to soldier on with the snaps, to get more experience?” Steve laughed at this and shrugged.

“It’s probably the first time I've ever wanted to be  _ more _ stubborn in my life.” he replied sardonically. Bucky wished him luck and left him to it.

The main garment wasn’t too difficult to assemble, though the tiny proportions made everything that bit more complex. By the time Bucky called time on the challenge, Steve was reaffirmed in his hatred for snap fastenings. He had accidentally sent his first three attempts flying across the room, narrowly missing a crew member, to whom he had spent a solid five minutes apologising profusely. 

He had finally gotten the hang of it, but they were slightly unevenly spaced, and he had scratched his hands up a little on the metallic pincers which were used to pinch them in place. Where the pattern had asked for ten fastenings, Steve had barely managed six, spreading them out further to compensate for the missing ones. Looking at the others, he was relieved to see that he was not the only one who had struggled. Clint’s babygrow had one sleeve longer than the other, while Wanda had misaligned the fastenings so the garment hung unevenly.

Of all seven contestants, only Shuri had managed to attach all ten fastenings, but Steve remembered that she said she took a robotics class in school and was planning to study engineering in college. She was likely the most adept at handling delicate tools of all of the people in the room.

Loki and Pepper approached the motley collection of babygrows on their tiny mannequins, expressions inscrutable. They exchanged a look.

“I’ll be completely honest,” began Loki, “These are some of the worst babygrows I have ever seen.”

“We knew this would be a big challenge for many of you, but I have to agree,” Pepper added. They went down the line anyway, pointing out the obvious flaws, though they did manage to find at least one compliment to give each garment, even if it was simply that the choice of fabric was appropriate.

“Very neat stitching on this one.” They said of Steve’s, “Though you obviously struggled a lot with the fastenings, and you have pulled the garment a little in your efforts.” Steve glanced apologetically at the poor crew member again, accepting the critique.

He wound up coming fifth, which was lower than his previous pattern challenge, but for the second week in a row he was just relieved not to be last. They had their break in the courtyard, just as they had the previous week, and Steve waited for his name to be called for his interview as he ate the sandwich he had brought with him. Everyone around him was talking about the task they had just done, comparing the scrapes and cuts they had given themselves with the fastenings. Clint had actually managed to draw blood - his own, fortunately- and was bemoaning the judges for assigning such a challenge for the first one of the week.

“This is my index finger! On my good hand! How am I supposed to do two more challenges when I’ll hardly be able to thread a needle?” Steve patted his shoulder in sympathy, silently wondering the same. He had narrowly avoided serious injury himself, and it would not be a fun situation to find yourself in.

“Do you think you’ll use those fastenings again in any future garments?” Steve met the question from Maria with a blank stare during his interview, and a raised eyebrow.

“If I never see a fastening like that again it will be too soon. I don’t care if it’s fiddly and awkward, my kids clothes will not have those fastenings. My  _ grandchildren _ will not wear clothes with those fastenings. They are the devil’s work.” There was a muffled laugh from down the hallway, and Steve glanced away from the crew to see Bucky Barnes had just left one of the other rooms and had heard Steve’s outburst. He waved when he saw Steve had noticed him, and ducked into another doorway.

“So yeah,” Steve repeated, “It’s a no on those fastenings from me.”

“Alright, moving on then. How do you feel about your position going into the transformation challenge?” Steve shrugged.

“It’s hard to call. It could go either way really, I’ve been very middle of the road so far, and I’d really like to get a good rating so I don’t need to stress so much in the made-to-measure.”

The interview wrapped up after that, and he went back to the courtyard, sending Natasha out to do her interview.

When they were called back into the sewing room this time, Steve looked around to see if there would be any clues to the transformation challenge, but nothing caught his attention. He resigned himself to being blindsided once again by the judges’ announcement.

Finally they arrived, followed by an assistant pushing a large, heaping cart which was covered with some sort of blanket.

Steve squinted at it, but couldn’t deduce anything from it.

The camera crew started filming, and the contestants gathered around the judges and the cart.

Bucky stepped forward and smiled at them individually.

“So this morning was a bit of a rough start to the weekend, but now is your chance to step forward and save yourselves - you might even say, like superheroes.” Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion, and a surreptitious glance around him showed that everyone else was equally baffled. Pepper stepped up to clarify.

“This is a collection of bedclothes, both old and new. We want you to take them, and transform them into a superhero costume. We want you to show us the hero you wanted to be when you were a kid.”

“You should think about your character’s story when designing the costume, and let that be represented in the character design. You can use three items from the cart, plus whatever you need from the haberdashery,” Loki clarified. Bucky finished the briefing by giving them their time limit of ninety minutes, and then the task began.

Steve was smiling to himself as he went to the cart and grabbed a large blue blanket, along with some red and white. He was already cutting and draping the fabric on the mannequin by the time most of the others had finished planning their colour schemes.

“You seem a lot more confident in what you’re doing than you did last week.” Bucky commented as he approached Steve’s table. He smiled.

“Yeah, this is a good task for me actually. I’ve done costuming before.” 

“And what have you decided for your design? It’s a very patriotic colour scheme.” Steve blushed, only then realising that he would need to actually explain this.

“Oh, I… I’ve always been an artist, and when I was a kid I was pretty sickly. I spent a lot of time drawing myself as a superhero, actually.” The blush deepened when Bucky nodded for him to continue, seeming genuinely interested in Steve’s silly childhood daydreams.

“God, this is actually kind of embarrassing.” He laughed, before continuing. “So the superhero is called Captain America. He’s a soldier in world war two, who gets given this serum that cures all illness and makes him grow about a foot and a half. I was obsessed with getting bigger, getting stronger. Obviously that never actually happened, but at least it was worth something, if it helps with this task!” To his credit, Bucky doesn’t actually laugh, though he does give Steve an odd look.

“For what it’s worth, Stevie, I think you’re just fine as you are.” Bucky replies, oddly sincere in comparison to their former conversations. Steve gestured at the pictures he had brought with him, particularly the one of him with his mom. 

“My mom always said that too, but she was always a fan of the comic strips I drew, at least.” Bucky looked at the picture, and then back at Steve, his smile widening.

“This is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Oh my god, of course you were a cute kid. Of course.” Bucky wandered off after that shaking his head with a smile which could almost be described as fond. Steve was left to bury his now beetroot face in the costume he was making. He didn’t recover until halfway through the challenge, finally pulling himself together as he was adding artificial muscles to the torso of his costume using wadding he had scavenged from one of the blankets.

There was more chatter in the sewing room for this challenge than there had been before, and it strangely put him at ease. He looked around at the other superhero designs, taking in what he was up against. There were some good concepts there, he could tell even from the unfinished garments, but he was secretly quite confident in his chances.

When time was called, he felt reasonably happy with what he had achieved. The finish was slightly sloppy, the muscles a little uneven, and the star on the chest wonky, but it was finished, and looked fairly decent.

The other superhero costumes were lined up and shuffled around, and each contestant was given a small card to write their superhero’s name on. Steve scribbled the name, pinned it to the mannequin, and sat back to watch the judging just as Pepper and Loki walked in. From the delighted sounds they made at the costumes in front of them

First up was Natasha’s  _ Black Widow. _

“Perhaps an odd name choice for a child’s costume,” Began Loki, “But it is well constructed.”

“I like the contrast of the red accents on the black.” Pepper countered.

The judging continued, from Sam’s impressive wings attached to his costume with wires so they were held aloft, to Carol’s intricate angled piping which met in the centre of the chest in a large eight pointed star. When they reached Steve’s, Pepper outright giggled.

“This is great. The abs and biceps are very well done,” She commented through her laughter, “It’s just wonderful!” Loki nodded in agreement. Though he didn’t laugh, there was a slight curve to his lips which seemed to imply he was equally amused.

When they reached the end, they looked back over the seven costumes in front of them. 

“In seventh place, is Scarlet Witch,” Began Loki, “The design is fine, but there wasn’t much evidence of sewing skills.” Wanda nodded, taking a steadying breath but accepting the critique.

“Sixth, we have Black Widow. The construction was great, but I’m not sure how suitable it is for a child's costume.” Natasha seemed to be forcibly restraining herself from rolling her eyes at Pepper’s remark, and Steve suppressed a snort.

“Fifth place is Hawkeye. Nicely conceived, but more detail would have been welcome.” Clint shrugged with an easygoing smile.

“Fourth place is Black Panther. Very well constructed, and the accessories were well thought out,” Pepper explained, gesturing at the panelling around the neckline which resembled a spiked collar.

“Third place is one of our star-chested  _ Captains, _ ” Loki gave a wry smile. “Captain Marvel, to be more specific. Very well done.”

“And second place is our more patriotic Captain,” Pepper added with a smile. Steve felt his breath catch, unable to fight the smile that came to his face at that. 

“Which means that first place goes to the Falcon!” Concluded Loki. Steve’s smile grew as he saw the shocked joy on Sam’s face, and gave him a gleeful thumbs up. Bucky stepped forward and smiled at them.

“Well done to all of you! I hope you enjoyed letting out your inner child today. Tomorrow is your made-to measure challenge, so rest up and we will see you then.” The camera crew finished their shots of the garments, and then someone from promotions thought it would be a good idea to get photos of everyone posing with their costumes. By the time they were able to leave, it was almost an hour later, and Steve barely paused to grab his things from the locker room before leaving. 

Bucky was standing by the curb again, evidently waiting for his car to arrive. Steve walked past him, sending him what he hoped was a casual smile and wave as he did.

“Hey, Steve,” He called out, and Steve turned to him in surprise. “Good job today. That costume was great, I would have given it first, honestly.” Steve laughed in disbelief.

“You’re kidding right? You saw Sam’s wings, those things were crazy well made. I can deal with second place. For now.” Bucky laughed at the addition, and glanced away as a car pulled up to collect him.

“You’re very competitive, aren’t you?” He asked, and Steve just shrugged, suddenly feeling daring.

“I know what I want.” he said, letting his eyes flick over Bucky’s body. The other man laughed delightedly and got into the car.

“See you tomorrow, Steve,” He called as he closed the door, and the car pulled away. Steve had a spring in his step the whole way home, and the flutter in his chest lasted until about half way through his three hour pattern revision.

He slept relatively well, considering the nerves he still felt over the made-to measure. He was relatively certain that coming second in the transformation meant that he wasn’t necessarily in danger for the task to come, but he also knew that his first task hadn’t been great, and he wanted to prove that he was deserving of a place in the top three.

The next morning he left his apartment, laden down with everything he had been unwilling to send ahead to the studio, and almost tripped over his neighbor who was evidently just back from work at the lab, based on his attire. Bruce worked odd hours, and Steve had learned not to question it.

“Do you need a ride anywhere?” He asked, eyeing up Steve’s armfuls of carefully folded pattern pieces. Steve shook his head.

“Nah, it’s fine, you should get to bed. I’ll just get a cab.” Bruce held up a finger to stop him.

“Let me drive you, it’s wet out and that paper will get destroyed if there’s a shower while you’re trying to hail a cab.” He turned and walked right back down the stairs he had just ascended, leaving Steve no choice but to follow. He reeled off the address when Bruce asked, and got in the passenger side with minimal grumbling.

“So what are you up to, heading out so early on a Sunday?” Steve shrugged, trying to remember what was in those documents he had signed about telling people he was in the show.

“It’s a…. Sewing competition,” he hedged, when he realised he had completely forgotten the contents of what he had signed, and wasn’t sure who he could tell about the competition. They rode in silence until Bruce pulled up just up the street from the old building.

“Fancy location for a sewing competition,” Bruce wondered aloud as Steve climbed out of the car. He caught sight of Bucky walking into the building and met his eyes with a wave. Bruce blinked up at him. 

“Steve, is that who I think that is?” Steve smiled innocently, remembering the number of times he had invited Bruce over for dinner when he had noticed him becoming too wrapped up in his work, showing him old episodes of the Sewing Bee to help him relax. Bruce was looking back and forth between the door to the building and Steve. 

“I said it was a sewing competition,” Steve grinned and closed the car door, walking away with a laugh.

“Steven Grant Rogers, did you go on the Sewing Bee without telling me?” Bruce called out the open window, and Steve was still cackling as he signed in and made his way upstairs.

He wasn’t the first to arrive this week, but he was still early, and spent some time talking to Shuri, with whom he hadn’t had much opportunity to speak before.

“I just really love the way things fit together. Whether it’s sewing or robotics, the idea of small, insignificant pieces coming together to make something intricate and elegant is so appealing to me.” Steve nodded, in absolute awe of this kid, with more talent in her pinky finger than he had in his entire body. Gradually, more of them showed up and they started sharing their plans for the task ahead.

The interviews went much the same as last week, and Steve was able to blab his way through without much difficulty.

“Yeah, I was so happy with the way my superhero costume came out. Like I was saying during the task, it’s something close to my heart. I actually drew some Captain America comics when I was a kid!”

“Do you think you would be able to dig any up? It would be great to put in the final edit when you’re explaining your design.” Steve winced, but nodded.

“I can have a look, a lot of my childhood stuff has been in storage since my mom passed away. I’m sure there’s an old sketchpad somewhere, though.”

“No hurry, we won’t need that kind of thing until post-production, so there’s a few months to go.” Steve nodded, and the interview carried on, with the inevitable questions about his planned designs and sewing for children.

“The design is based on an outfit my mom made me when I was a kid, actually, and I do have a photo of that in the sewing room already. She was always sewing, that’s where I got it from, I guess.”

He wrapped up the interview in time to grab a cup of tea from the cafeteria, and then waited until they were allowed into the sewing room. Like before, the fabric Steve had chosen for the task was laid out on his workbench, and he put his pattern down next to it.

The judges filed in not long afterwards, and introduced the task. They were to make a pair of dungarees for a child.

“Remember that they should fit the child well, but there needs to be room for running and climbing so we don’t want anything too snug,” warned Pepper, just as the door opened again and a stream of children ran in.

The sewing room was far louder than it had ever been before, and Steve was greeted by a very excitable ten year old boy.

“Hi! I’m Peter, what’s your name?” He asked, and Steve introduced himself.

“I’m Steve. Nice to meet you, Peter.” From there, Steve barely got a word in edgeways with the kid, as he started talking about his school, his friends, his aunt, and the spider he had seen on the sidewalk outside earlier.

The time started, and Steve asked Peter to try to stand still so he could measure him for the garment. This proved to be far more difficult than it had been measuring Peggy the previous week, as Peter giggled and squirmed away every time Steve came near him with the measuring tape.

“That tickles!” he squealed, the third time Steve tried to measure from his armpit, and he had to take a deep breath to keep his patience.

“I know kid, I just gotta get this measurement. Please try to stay still.” He tried again, only to be met by another wriggle out of the way.

“Hey, Rogers!” Steve glanced up to see it was Carol calling to him. “Get the kid to hold the end himself. It works!” Steve was skeptical, but he raised an eyebrow at Peter in question, who nodded and grabbed the measuring tape. To Steve’s surprise, it worked like a dream. Peter stopped fidgeting and he was able to get the measurements he needed.

“Thanks, Carol! I owe you one!” She gave him a thumbs up from where she was working on laying out her pattern pieces.

“I make a lot of clothes for my kid, and I have to measure her every couple of months. They fidget like crazy at that age, but give them a job and they’re good.” Steve noticed she had asked the child she was working with to hold the end of a piece of fabric still while she worked, and they were paying rapt attention to her. A glance at Clint’s table showed a much different scene, with the little girl skipping around his table in circles while he shot a pained look over at Natasha.

Steve turned back to Peter. 

“How would you like to be my assistant?” He asked, and the kid nodded eagerly. They set to work, Steve answering Peter’s questions as patiently as he could, and boy did the kid have plenty of them.

The judges approached as Steve was marking the main fabric for the dungarees he was making, and started questioning him on the design.

“What fabric are you using?” Pepper asked, and Steve opened his mouth to reply.

“It’s denim, most of it is black but with bright contrasting primary colors on the pockets and cuffs!” Peter answered for him, with the simplified version of his plan that Steve had been explaining to him.

“I see you’ve got yourself a helper,” Loki pointed out, and Steve struggled to figure out if that was intended to be approving or not. They asked him a little more about what his pattern would involve before moving on.

Steve got back to work, finishing the markings and beginning to cut. He didn’t exactly trust Peter with the sharp blades, so he asked him to go pick out the pocket colours he wanted. Steve cut carefully, marking each piece with a label and setting it aside. Peter returned with bright red and yellow, which worked well with the pattern plan. The pocket fabric was set aside for later, and Steve finished his cutting

He started pinning the fabric panels together, asking Peter to hold the pincushion out for him whenever he needed one. Bucky arrived just when Steve was beginning to sew. His own sewing machine always had a bit of a tantrum when it came to sewing denim, even when using the proper needles, so Steve was being careful.

“How are things going over here?” Bucky asked, and once again Peter answered on Steve’s behalf.

“It’s going great! Steve is  _ totally  _ gonna win this one!”

“He said it, not me!” Steve grumbled, but it was fond and Bucky laughed his loud, infectious laugh.

“Well, I’m excited to see what you come up with.” Steve shrugged, and started easing the fabric into the machine. Bucky paused, but rather than moving to the next table he spoke again.

“A little bird told me that there may be a picture to go with this pattern of yours too, if I’m not mistaken?” Steve groaned, because yes, he had brought the picture along and given the producers permission to scan it, but he hadn’t expected to actively show it to Bucky, of all people. The fabric caught in the machine, and next thing he knew the needle had broken.

“You after another baby picture? Jeez, these things haven’t gotten this much attention since the last time I visited my Grandma.” He sighed, but smiled at Bucky to show he was only kidding, turning to his pinboard and taking down the photo in question. Steve was about Peter’s age in it, though much smaller in appearance.

“Aww look at you!” Bucky cooed over the picture, and Pepper wandered over at his reaction, looking in as well.

“Is this the same pattern?” She asked him.

“Not exactly the same, I drafted this one myself, but those were one of my favourite things my mom ever made me.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and Pepper smiled at him, going back to where she had been commenting on the task with Loki. 

“I’m sure she’d be proud of you for getting here,” Bucky told Steve, pinning the picture back in its spot, and giving him a gentle smile. Steve nodded, blinking rapidly to avoid the tears he was sure were about to work their way into his eyes. He turned back to the machine, pulling out the fabric and replacing the needle. Bucky hovered nearby for a few moments until Steve looked up at him, and he smiled again before moving on to the next contestant.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, and Steve almost jammed the machine again, having forgotten the kid was even there, given his uncharacteristic silence during the exchange.

“All good pal, don’t worry about me. Could you grab those scissors for me?” He diverted Peter’s attention, taking a few grounding breaths before ploughing on. 

When it came to the first fitting, Steve was reasonably confident in his chances, though he realised when Peter came out wearing the garment that he had forgotten to account for turning up the hems to reveal the lining when he had measured out the pattern. They were too short, and he frantically tried to come up with a solution.

He could either add on an extra couple of inches to the hem, and deal with a weird seam, or… He glanced up at Peter’s face, and made the choice.

“How do you feel about shorts?” he asked, and Peter shrugged.

When the dungarees were back on the workbench, he set to work cutting the legs up further, to the point he had marked just below the knee, turning it up to reveal the brightly coloured lining, and then adding the finishing touches to the pockets just as the thirty minute call was made.

He managed a second fitting, adjusting the length of the straps and moving the buttons around until it was as perfect as he could make it.

When the time was called, Steve sat back and examined his work.

It fit well, at the very least, and he liked the mismatched colour on the pockets. The legs were a little off, the shorts not exactly meshing with the rest of the pattern, particularly the large, low pockets. It was better than leaving them awkwardly hanging to mid-calf, though, so Steve had to accept it. 

The others were all pretty good, though with varying degrees of success in getting them to fit the children properly. Steve watched each child prance up and down the catwalk, striking adorable poses and twirling when asked. They were all encouraged from the sidelines by their sewist, each of whom acted like enthusiastic parents, cheering and giving thumbs up to the kids as they showed off.

Steve was no different, grinning at Peter as he posed in the short dungarees and feeling strangely proud of the kid.

“So am I correct in saying this isn’t exactly the garment you planned initially?” Loki cut directly to the chase with his questioning, and Steve suppressed a wince as he replied.

“Yes I, uh- The legs were on the short side, so I made it deliberate.” Loki raised an eye and examined the rest of the garment. 

“It is a good fit elsewhere, you didn’t make it too tight at least.” Steve smiled tightly at Pepper for coming to his defence, noticing the wince from behind him where Clint stood. His dungarees had been adorable, a purple corduroy, with a pattern of bows and arrows on the pockets. The model had skipped down the catwalk happily, though the discomfort was evident in the tight fit of the garment around her waist.

“All right, thank you Steve. Natasha, could you send up your model please?” Steve took the dismissal and went back to sit with Peter while he watched the rest of the judging. When they had gotten through all seven of them, the cameras were shut off, and the judes went into the side room where they were to confer over who would be going home, and who would win garment of the week. 

The children all changed back into their own clothes and were collected at this stage, and Steve was surprised to receive a hug from Peter before he ran off to his aunt. He was about to follow the other contestants out to the canteen, when he was stopped by a hand on his arm. He turned to see Bucky standing there.

“Shouldn’t you be….?” He asked, inclining his head in the direction Pepper and Loki had disappeared. Bucky shrugged, and pulled Steve over to a quiet corner.

“Nah, I’m free for a little bit. I just wanted to make sure you were alright? You looked upset earlier, and I wanted to check in. The producers always kill for a sob story, but I should have checked with you beforehand to make sure that was alright.” Steve waited for him to finish talking before crossing his arms and squaring off.

“I don’t need protection,” He asserted, voice firm. “I put that stuff in the bio that I gave the producers, I brought the photo. I knew what to expect. My reaction caught me off guard, but I’m sure it’ll make good TV, so no harm done.” Bucky deflated, and Steve saw from the relief evident on his face that he must have been genuinely worried. He rolled his eyes fondly and patted Bucky on the arm, awkwardly. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” he reassured with less defensiveness, and Bucky nodded.

“Thanks, Steve. Good work today. I really think-” He cut himself off, looking somewhere over Steve’s shoulder, and turned faintly pink. Steve turned and saw a production assistant standing in the doorway, watching them impatiently. He laughed and raised an eyebrow.

“Let me guess, you actually are supposed to be somewhere else right now?” Bucky blushed deeper and smiled sheepishly, nodding. Steve laughed and used the hand which he just now realised was still resting on Bucky’s arm to push him gently towards the door. Bucky smiled at him and waved as he went with the assistant, and Steve left the now deserted sewing room to join the other sewists.

Natasha gave him a look when he joined them, and a wicked grin spread across her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Steve cut her off, grabbing some of the complimentary pastries and sitting next to her.

“Whatever you’re about to insinuate, don’t.” He warned, and her expression turned innocent. 

“I was only going to compliment you on the decision to turn your long pants into shorts!” She protested, and Steve shot her a disbelieving look, turning to Sam instead, in order to compliment him on another excellent task. 

The judges seemed to take less time deliberating this time around, because Steve had barely finished the croissant he had grabbed when they were all called back into the room. The garment of the week was shrouded carefully, but Steve had a feeling from the dimensions which it was going to be.

They gathered together, waiting for the verdict, and Bucky stepped forward.

“Children’s week is always my favourite,” He began. “The sewing room had an energy that would be hard to replicate, and you all did excellent work. You should be proud of yourselves.”

Steve smiled at the others, and they pulled in closer. It was funny how, after only two weeks, they had already become very close friends. Shuri had even sent her phone around, collecting phone numbers in order to set up a group chat. She was planning on tracking Phil down and adding him in, and Steve had chosen not to ask how she intended to do so. By the look she shared with Natasha while explaining this, Steve was sure he didn’t want to know.

“It is my pleasure, this week,” Announced Loki, pulling them out of their chatter, “To reveal the winner of garment of the week. Pepper stepped forward to the mannequin, and uncovered it, revealing Sam’s winged superhero costume. Sam’s jaw dropped, and Steve clapped him on the back.

“What?” Sam asked, incredulously. 

“It was an excellent piece of sewing and design, and honestly adorable.” Pepper clarified. “Great job!” She finished, and stepped back to allow Bucky to move up to the front.

“Unfortunately,” Bucky continued, once the cheers and congratulations calmed a little, “We still do need to say goodbye to someone, and that person is, sadly, Clint.” The man in question hung his head and smiled bravely. Steve joined the group hug that ensued, hearing Clint’s repeated assertion that he had known it was coming, that he had been on the fence last week and hadn’t done enough to claw his way back this week. That he would be fine, honestly Maximoff, stop sniffling all over him! There was a muffled laugh at this, and then the judges surprised them by joining in the group hug, though Loki seemed highly uncomfortable at the action. An arm wrapped around Steve, and he turned to see that Bucky had joined along with them. 

He was talking to Clint, but his arm stayed where it was on Steve’s back. Steve tried to focus on Sam, but when their eyes met, Sam had a knowing expression on his face. Bucky’s hand remained stuck in the same spot and Steve was slowly driven out of his mind until the hug dissolved, and Bucky went back to his position with the judges.

“We have a very different challenge for you next week, we’re going from childrenswear, to very adult wear,” He paused, and was it Steve’s imagination or did his cheeks go a little pink? “That’s right, it’s lingerie week.” So we will be replacing cotton and denim, for satin and lace. Have a good week, and we will see you then.”

Steve was still thinking about the way Bucky’s arm had lingered when he left with the rest of group later that evening, heading for the same Mexican restaurant they had eaten at the previous week. Clint gave a toast to the Sewing Bee, which everyone cheered, and to snap fastenings, which everyone except Shuri met with a resounding “Boo!”

Steve even had a few drinks, and was feeling pleasantly tipsy by the time he left alongside Sam and Natasha. They all lived in roughly the same area, so they had decided to split a cab.

“So tell me, Steve,” Natasha began, and he realised that he had not managed to avoid the conversation her expression had promised when he went into the canteen after his chat with Bucky after all. He groaned, and she took that as her cue to continue.

“What’s your deal with Bucky?” Sam, who had been silent up until now, burst out laughing. 

“Our boy Steve has a huge crush. It’s painful, honestly” He responded on Steve’s behalf. While he hadn’t minded Peter speaking for him earlier, this was far less adorable, and Steve let himself stumble accidentally-on-purpose into Sam’s space, causing him to trip up.

“It’s not a huge crush!” He protested, in vain. “I just appreciate him in an aesthetic manner, and enjoy flirting with him.” He tried to come across as calm and cool, but the burst of laughter from the other two told him he had been unsuccessful.

“Okay, fine, it’s a tiny huge crush, alright? But I have it under control. It’s fine. I can totally spend two days talking to him surrounded by lingerie and it will be fine.” This time, he laughed along with them at his own hopelessness, and Sam threw an arm over his shoulder.

“If it’s any consolation, I can guarantee you he will be equally flustered.” Steve looked at him questioningly, and Sam glanced at Natasha, as though he were checking to see if he should reveal something. He must have gotten permission, because he continued.

“That boy is smitten with you. Even when he was talking to us in that last challenge, he kept glancing back at you.”

“He was just worried because he thought he made me cry!” Steve protested, and Natasha snorted.

“Believe what you want to believe, but I have to disagree.” Steve was silent the rest of the trip home, pondering that. Bucky always flirted with the contestants, so Steve wasn’t about to get his hopes up, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there really was something to what they were saying. 

Lingerie week was as good a time as any to test the theory, he decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excited for Lingerie week? This fic is about to leave T-rating, and veer off into the land of M... (As usual, the next chapter is written but won't be posted until I'm a chapter ahead)


	4. Week 3 - Lingerie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay updating this! Week 4 is *technically* still unfinished, but I couldn't delay this one any longer!  
> I uploaded my sketches for children's week on tumblr [here](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/post/619927018433331201/my-sketches-for-week-2-childrens-wear-for-my)
> 
> Also,[Nospheratt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nospheratt/) made an absolutely STUNNING cover for this fic, which I have embedded in chapter 1 - Prologue, which I recommend everyone go look at!
> 
> (We're about to start earning that "explicit" warning, so buckle up)

Steve entered week three of the competition with surprising confidence. He was starting to genuinely enjoy the Sewing Bee. He loved spending time with people who shared his passion for sewing and getting a chance to prove his talent. He never wanted to leave. By all accounts, the desire to remain in the running should have caused nerves but Steve was pleased to note that he just felt more motivated than ever.

This week was lingerie week which should be interesting. He had basically no experience with making lingerie and he wasn’t sure what to expect from the tasks. He figured he could expect lots of silk and lace - two fabrics which were notoriously difficult to work with. With that in mind, he had dedicated a large portion of his week - in between filling art commissions - practicing with scraps of those fabrics and various elastics. When Bruce had come over for lunch one day, he had glanced around the living room, which looked as though a very violent orgy had taken place - torn silk and scraps of lace scattered everywhere - and laughed out loud.

“I’m assuming this has something to do with that ‘ _just a sewing competition’_ of yours?” he had asked, and Steve just shrugged magnanimously.

When Saturday came around, Steve approached the studio hoping that his practice had been enough, and that there wouldn’t be too many surprises in store. The locker room was bustling with speculation once again, the six remaining contestants debating what they thought lay in store for them in the tasks to come.

“I’ve tried making a bra for myself before,” Carol confessed with a grimace, “It was not pretty.” Natasha nodded in agreement, and Steve shared a glance with Sam. As the only two men left in the competition, they were probably going to be set up as the underdogs here.

“Honestly I’ve never even considered making my own underwear,” Wanda spoke up, in sympathy. 

“As long as we don’t have to make a bra, I’ll be okay,” Sam put an end to the discussion, as they were called into the sewing room for the pattern challenge.

“Your pattern challenge this week is to make a simple lace bralette,” Pepper announced, once they had gathered and Bucky had introduced the week’s theme with a slightly odd, and clearly scripted reference to 50 Shades of Grey, which had been met with winces and groans of exasperation. Steve smirked in spite of the fact that he was dreading the task himself, meeting Sam’s eyes with an expression which clearly said _you should have kept your mouth shut._

They got their patterns from Pepper and Steve flicked through it as the time started. There were so many small parts, and it looked to have some very fiddly elastic sewn around the cups. He browsed the samples of lace which were available in the fabric store, and finally chose a pale lemon yellow, with floral patterns and a scalloped edge.

He managed to find the right type of elastic and the hook-and-eye fasteners which would be placed on the band in the haberdashery. Once he had located all of the required materials, he returned to his table and laid it all out, checking against the pattern.

He laid out the lace and started to transfer the pattern. Each cup was to be made of two small triangles of lace, and he tried to position the pieces so that each side would look the same. He also needed a long rectangle of lace for the band, along with three different types of elastic to hold the whole thing together. It was going to be incredibly finicky, and Steve envied the women in the task, when he spotted Wanda surreptitiously looking down her shirt to compare the composition of her own bra against what she was doing.

Steve had finally started cutting after double and triple checking everything, when Bucky approached him.

How are we doing, Stevie?” Steve looked up at him through his eyelashes and shrugged. 

“I don’t know, It’s not like I’ve never seen a bra, but I can’t say I’ve ever paid enough attention to them to know what I’m doing here.” Bucky laughed and glanced between Steve’s face and the lace, and Steve felt a blush rise to his face as he realised what he had just said.

“I mean -,” He tried to backtrack, but Bucky cut him off.

“I think I see what you mean, Cassanova,” Bucky winked, and Steve groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“I cannot believe I said that on camera.” He groaned to Sam, who was stifling a laugh at the next table while pinning his lace to the mannequin as Bucky walked over to speak to Wanda.

“Neither can I, honestly. That was a whole mess.” Steve forced his mind away from his own stupidity and set to work on the bra, trying to ignore Sam’s continued laughter at his expense.

Steve remembered the first time he had learned how much bras cost, when he had been dating a girl in college and decided to buy her some lingerie on valentine’s day. He remembered scoffing, wondering how some flimsy lace and elastic could possibly be worth that much money. By the task’s halfway point, Steve had begun to wonder why they didn’t cost even more. 

He had unpicked and re-sewn the elastic along the edge of the right cup four times, trying to sew with enough tension that the lace would cling to the shape of the mannequin, but not too tight that it would pucker and it still didn’t look right. He gave up and moved onto the left cup, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t sag too much. 

By the end of the task, he had a sheen of sweat across his brow, and something which if he squinted vaguely resembled a bralette on his mannequin. It sagged on the right cup, and was too tight on the left, but at least he had managed to sew each component in the correct place. It had even been a near miss for that, as he had realised not ten minutes before the final call that he was about to attach the band in reverse, with the lace on the inside rather than outside of the elastic. 

All in all, it was not his best work. 

When the judges reached him, Loki took a deep breath. 

“Well. This is certainly interesting,” He hedged, and Pepper smiled grimly. 

“You chose a good lace,” She acknowledged, “But you seem to have struggled a little with the elastic, did you?” Steve nodded and winced.

“I don’t know what happened, it just… All went wrong.” He gritted his teeth and took their criticisms as they listed every mistake, from the tension in the elastic, to the way he had over stretched the lace through his multiple attempts to get it right. He was relieved when they carried on to Carol, and he could finally breathe.

He wasn’t surprised to come in last place for the task, but he was still disappointed in himself. He listened through the rushing in his ears as the judges announced the rest of the rankings, barely registering Natasha and Carol’s celebration over coming first and second, respectively. He left the sewing room for the break and took some deep breaths in the corridor, jumping when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Steve, are you alright?” It was Natasha, and he shrugged.

“Just not a great feeling, coming last.” she nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, that’s fair. I felt the same after the transformation last week. But you’re lucky,” She began, and Steve looked at her curiously.

“Everyone knows transformation is your strongest task. You’re creative, so you can pull yourself back up the ranks, and you won’t be stuck having to save yourself in the made-to-measure.” She said it matter-of-factly, and Steve was surprised to find that it was actually more reassuring than any platitudes about how _it could be worse_.

He had gathered himself and managed to avoid spiralling by the time he was called for his interview. Maria was waiting in her usual spot, and smiled at him as he stepped into the camera’s frame.

“Bit of a rough task today, I understand?” She prompted him and he nodded.

“I do feel like I’ve let myself down,” He began, and shrugged. “But I plan to pull back today.I just need to do well in the transformation, and Then I’m back on track.” Maria nodded, seemingly impressed by his resilience. She asked him where he had gone wrong, and he tried to explain succinctly. The interview didn’t last too long after that, and before he knew it the break was over and he was back in the sewing room for the transformation challenge.

“Welcome back, sewists!” Bucky introduced. “And I hope you are ready for a saucy little transformation challenge. Judges?” He passed it over to Pepper, who stepped forward and smiled. 

“Since it’s lingerie week, we have gathered up lots of thrifted and second hand silk scarves.”

“We want you to make a piece of lingerie using these scarves,” Loki continued. “You can take up to three scarves to work with, and we want to see them transformed into something delicate, and a little bit suggestive.”

“You can give us one piece or two, and you can add lace or other fabrics as needed, as well as anything from the haberdashery, as usual.” Pepper concluded the briefing and gestured to a large coat stand, adorned with a wide variety of silk scarves. Bucky took over with a grin.

“I’ll keep it brief,” He smirked at his own pun, “You have ninety minutes. Get sewing!”

Steve joined the rush towards the scarves, rummaging through them to find ones which matched. He wound up with a baby blue one, along with a plain white. Finally, he found a third, delicately patterned with both colours, and he brought them back to his mannequin to begin draping the fabric. He experimented a little until he figured out what he wanted to make with them, then draped them on the mannequin, using pins to get them in position before he even thought about cutting. 

Silk, as Steve had come to understand through his practice sessions, was very awkward to work with. He was incredibly grateful to the practice he had done over the week which meant that he knew how the fabric would behave when he got around to sewing it. He went to the haberdashery and picked out a lace trim in an almost identical shade of blue to the silk in his first scarf. He went back to his station and made a rough sketch of what he wanted the final garments to look like before he dove in.

He had decided to take a risk and attempt to make two garments. The white silk would form the bust of a short silk chemise, trimmed with the pale blue lace and with the patterned silk forming the bodice. It would be just short enough that the pale blue shorts would peek out from the bottom, showing the matching white lace.

Bucky arrived when he was attaching the lace to the bust portion.

“So, you didn’t exactly get along well with this morning’s task. How are you feeling for this one?”

Steve glanced up, holding up the half-finished front portion of the chemise to his own chest. 

“I didn’t know much about bras, but I think this is much more my style, don’t you?” Bucky’s eyes flicked down to where the silk lay over Steve’s chest and swallowed thickly, before diverting the subject.

“So, uh, What’s your plan?” Steve noticed the look though, and he felt a sudden surge of confidence. He grinned.

“This is gonna be a cute little chemise, with lace trimming the top and bottom,” He pointed out on his own body, then held up the scraps of blue silk to his crotch, and explained how he would be making the shorts. Bucky’s eyes lingered for only a fraction of a second, far too quickly to be noticeable on camera, but long enough to send satisfaction shooting through Steve.

“Very creative, sounds like you really know what you’re doing.” Bucky said, voice thicker and more tightly controlled than usual. 

“Yeah, I have much more experience with this type of thing. I’ve been told it suits me.” Steve said, as lightly as he could manage, turning back to his work and shooting a wink at Bucky over his shoulder as he did. Bucky cleared his throat, and Steve smirked to himself when he didn’t go directly to another contestant, but instead held up a finger to the camera crew and went to the door behind which Steve knew there would be bottles of water and other refreshments for the crew.

He carried on with the task, replaying the way Bucky had looked at him over and over in his mind. That had been more than just flirting for the cameras, and Steve hadn’t been able to resist teasing him. He wondered how much of that would make it into the final edit of the show, or if it would be deemed inappropriate. Maybe he could ask for a copy of the clip, just to prove it had happened.

He added the finishing touches to his chemise, and started on the shorts with barely twenty minutes remaining. Thankfully, it was a simple pattern, with the most complex part only requiring elastic to be threaded through the waistband and tied off. He didn’t quite have time to put the garments on the mannequin by the time the task was finished, but a quick, pleading look at Bucky had the taller man rushing over to help.

Steve wrestled the chemise over the mannequin, while Bucky did the same with the shorts. Steve swept a hand over the garments to make them sit smoothly, and thanked Bucky with a smile. He was softly fingering the strap of the chemise, and appeared to be thinking about something, but he snapped to attention when Shuri rolled her mannequin past them, and shot a smile at Steve as he bustled away, making himself busy by talking into a camera about the task.

Steve deposited his mannequin between Wanda and Sam, and went back to his table. The judges returned shortly. Pepper looked impressed by the display, while Loki seemed to be scrutinising them carefully.

Bucky joined the judges and spoke with them briefly, before turning his attention back to the contestants.

“Well that was certainly an interesting task. Looks like the judges are going to have a difficult time deciding this.” Pepper nodded.

“Lots of different approaches here, I see.” Loki commented as he made his way along the row of mannequins. Pepper joined him, and they began to examine each product in more detail. Shuri had produced something resembling a corset, slightly crooked but incredibly impressive given the time limits.

“Is this boning here along the front?” Pepper asked, and Loki nodded.

“That’s incredible, it’s a huge undertaking in such a short task. Well done to whoever made this.”

Next was Wanda’s nightie, trimmed with lace and made from purple and pink silk.

“It is a good design, but it feels unfinished,” Pepper said, diplomatically. 

“The lace is barely tacked on here, at the back,” Loki pointed out, pulling on the seam and revealing a hole. “It’s definitely disappointing.” Steve cringed as he realised he was next, and the judges were being much more critical about this task than they had previously.

“We have two pieces here, so that must have been quite the undertaking,” Loki looked approvingly at the garments, pulling on the seams as Steve prayed it would hold together. “I think it would have been better with just two of the scarves, rather than three. It would have meant for a more cohesive design.” Pepper nodded in agreement. 

“Yes, definitely. There’s also a little bit of puckering here, along the hem of the shorts. A nice effort, apart from that, though.” They moved onto Sam’s short robe, which he had made from a red scarf and trimmed with black. Steve thought about Bucky’s reaction to the idea of him in shorts and a camisole, and wondered what he would think of something like that. He barely heard a word of Sam’s feedback, and only snapped back to reality when he felt a camera on him. He really hoped he had managed to keep a straight face.

Carol was next, and she had opted for a more complex camisole, with the silk hugging the curves of the mannequin perfectly. It was definitely more intricate and better made than Steve’s had been, but he hoped he had scored enough brownie points from the added shorts to make up for it.

The judges deemed it to be well made, and the chosen scarves in various shades of grey to have been a good choice, though Loki questioned whether it may have been better to put the paler grey in the lower portion. Steve had a sneaking suspicion that he was just looking for something to criticise, however. 

The final garment was Natasha’s lilac and midnight blue creation. She had also made shorts, though she had opted for a more vintage vibe. They were high waisted, with the blue forming the waist band. The lilac silk floated out below, resembling a short skirt, with fine blue piping trimming the hemline.

“This is something very different from the others,” Loki began, narrowing his eyes as he circled it.

“They are very cute, I think I would probably wear something like this myself, around the house,” Pepper mused as she examined them. Loki raised an eyebrow at her with a laugh and she waved him off with a roll of her eyes.

“Right. Nothing to do but to put these in order, I suppose?” Loki asked, steering the conversation back on track, and Pepper nodded. They conferred briefly, and then announced the scores. 

Steve smiled to himself when he came third, behind Natasha’s shorts and Carol’s camisole. Sam was directly behind him, followed by Shuri and Wanda. He had hopefully redeemed himself slightly, though he would have preferred to have been top two, considering his poor results earlier. He would need to bring his A-game the following day, because while he may not actively be in danger of elimination anymore, he was most definitely not safe.

As soon as they were released for the evening, Steve walked into the locker room, only to be surrounded immediately by his fellow contestants

“What the hell was that, Rogers?” Natasha was the first to ask, and Steve looked at them, wide-eyed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I just-”

“Don’t play dumb, Steve, that’s a small room, we all heard you basically propositioning Bucky,” Sam cut him off, and Steve went beetroot.

“Oh no, was it that bad?” He asked, sitting down on one of the long benches. Natasha and Carol exchanged a look, and Carol answered him.

“Lets just say, from the expression on Barnes’ face when he visited my station ten minutes later, you certainly had an effect on him.”

“Though, I doubt ‘Bad’ is the word _he_ would use to describe it.” Wanda pitched in with a snort.

“Or maybe it is?” Natasha countered, “If he’s into that.” Steve groaned and buried his face in his hands. 

“Would you believe me if I said I had no intention of talking about the fact that I like to wear lingerie on national TV?” Sam laughed out loud at this, and Steve winced as he realised Shuri was still there. He apologised to her with a look, and she rolled her eyes.

“To be fair, I don’t think you actively claimed to _like_ wearing lingerie, just that it suits you.” She answered him deadpan, before going to gather her things and meet her brother downstairs. Thankfully, the others dispersed after only a few more pointed remarks, while Steve took a moment to pull himself back together into some semblance of composure before he made his way out.

He was almost disappointed to not see Bucky waiting for his car in the usual spot, but he shook that thought out of his head with a laugh as he started off down the street towards home.

He couldn’t help but to let his mind linger on the way Bucky had looked at him when he had held the silk up to his own body. For a brief moment, he had looked almost hungry, as his eyes lingered on the fabric, but it had been gone in a flash. Steve had intended nothing more than an escalation of the flirtations they had exchanged over the last few weeks, but something about the way Bucky had left, almost flustered, seemed to imply that there was something more to it. 

Steve replayed the moment in his mind as he lay in bed that night, and his eyes drifted to the drawer in his dresser where he knew there was a garment very similar to the one he had teased Bucky with. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he had been told the garments suited him, and he did enjoy the feeling of the soft silk against his skin. 

His hand drifted down to palm at himself through the shorts he had worn to bed. He swore and crossed the room, retrieving the garment and going back to bed, not even bothering to pull the silk camisole over his head, just clutching it in his fist and brushing it across his chest and gasping as it brushed his nipple. His other hand drifted down again, breaching his waistband and gripping his cock. He didn’t try to suppress the soft noises he made as he began to stroke himself, relishing in the softness of the silk combined with the pressure from his hand.

He pictured Bucky leaning over him, watching him with that same hungry expression he had worn earlier. In his imagination, Bucky was free to let his eyes devour Steve the way he wanted to. Steve gasped as he came, pumping himself through the aftershocks. He tossed the silk towards his laundry basket and padded into the bathroom to wipe himself off.

He refused to dwell on the situation after that, feeling suddenly very aware that he would need to spend an entire day in the same room as the guy he had just jerked off to, with TV cameras at the ready to record his every move. He really needed to pull himself together, or he would wind up being kicked off the show for popping a hard-on during filming.

The following morning Steve clung to normalcy, avoiding thoughts of the previous night’s activities as he ate some breakfast and left the apartment, greeting Bruce and exchanging pleasantries. He got a cab to the venue today, and hummed to himself the whole ride. He looked over his pattern in the locker room as usual, chatting to the other contestants as they arrived.

“Are you ready for today Rogers?” He looked up to see Carol, and smiled at her.

“Ready as I can be, I guess. You?” She shrugged nonchalantly. 

“I’m getting the hang of things now, I know what to expect. Plus, I think we have our week one models back, so I had an idea of her measurements when I drafted the pattern.” Steve looked at her, impressed by her logic. He hadn’t even thought to take Peggy’s measurements into account in advance, assuming they would be assigned another model to make the task more difficult. Now he thought about it though, he remembered seeing people reunited with the same model on previous seasons of the show when he had watched them. He buried himself in his plans again, sketching over them with what he remembered of Peggy’s measurements until he was called for his interview.

Maria greeted him as she had during all of his previous interviews and they got straight to it. He explained his rocky day, how he had struggled with the bra but done well on his transformation. He just about managed to avoid a blush as he spoke, but he changed the subject to the upcoming task and managed to hold onto his composure as he humbly expressed a desire to do his best, hoping it would be enough to impress the judges.

He was just heading back to the locker room, when he saw a familiar head of dark hair about to enter one of the other rooms, and without thinking he called out.

“Hey, Bucky?” Bucky turned, confused, but smiled when he spotted Steve.

“Steve! Hi,” He looked surprised to be addressed, and Steve cringed. This was weird. Of course it was weird, he had probably been really uncomfortable with Steve’s advances the previous day, but was forced to play it off in front of the cameras. 

“I just,” Steve began, trying to find the right words. “I wanted to apologise?” He settled on, not sure why it had come out as a question, and growing more awkward by the second.

“Apologise? What for?” Bucky asked, frowning. Steve pushed aside a thought of how adorable he looked, because now really wasn’t the right time. He ploughed on.

“For yesterday. My comments were… Super inappropriate. I don’t even know what came over me, honestly. Sorry for making you uncomfortable,” He closed his mouth, stopping himself from blurting out anything else, and waited for Bucky to respond. He was quiet, looking at Steve with uncertainty. He looked like he was about to say something, then changed his mind and started again.

“You… Right. Yesterday.” A smile was tugging at his mouth as he spoke. “Don’t worry about it, it was... It’s all good. Trust me,” Bucky’s smile grew, and Steve froze in place as he noticed Bucky’s eyes flicker down and back up to meet Steve’s own. 

“Um, right. Glad to hear,” he almost squeaked out, cursing himself for being so brazen in front of the camera, but barely able to string together a sentence in private. Bucky laughed and walked down the hallway, brushing past Steve in the process. He barely caught the sentence Bucky whispered into his ear as he passed, but once he figured it out, it was all he thought about for the remaining time until the task began.

“I’m gonna need to be the judge of what you said myself, though.”

Bucky winked at him in the sewing room, just before the cameras started rolling and Loki and Pepper explained the made-to-measure task for the week. Steve met his eyes and raised an eyebrow, the presence of the cameras giving back some of the bravado he had felt before.

By the time they had been briefed - They were to make a pair of women’s pajamas, perfectly fitted, comfortable and flattering - Steve had managed to bring his brain back online and focus on the task at hand. He greeted Peggy with a hug when she walked in along with the other models, and they chatted about the design and his plan while he laid out the fabric he had chosen. Of course, he had to repeat himself again when Loki came by to ask about his pattern, but it helped to keep him on track.

“I’ve opted for comfort and fit in my design here,” he explained, “The fabric is stretchy and incredibly soft, and the style is loose enough that they aren’t going to constrict you when you’re asleep, but obviously I’m paying attention to the way it fits and drapes on the body.” He was quite proud of the design. He had spent ages trawling through his favourite fabric store for the right fabric until Thor, the owner, who had become quite a good friend since Steve had begun shopping there had pointed him towards the new jersey fabric they had gotten in recently.

It had been perfect, just light enough to drape easily, and stretchy enough to be comfortable. Plus, it was the softest fabric Steve had ever felt. He had bought an extra few yards of it with the intention of making himself some lounge pants or a shirt.

He had gone with the pink rose pattern for the pajama bottoms, with a plain pink in the same shade for the top. The pajamas themselves would be a cropped leg trimmed with the pink fabric and the top was a long sleeved shirt, but slouchy and relaxed. There would be a pocket on the shirt in the floral fabric to unify the set. 

Loki nodded when he had finished explaining the pattern.

“So you’re doing a collared shirt with a stretch fabric, is that correct?” He asked, and Steve grimaced at the dry, skeptical tone.

“Yes. It’s not a garment that’s supposed to be a crisp collar. It will be worn with a button or two open, the collar should be slouchy. It will be evenly sewn and pressed, naturally but…” He faded out as Loki gave a tight lipped smile, raising his eyebrows with a hum. 

“Well, of course if that’s your design plan, we’ll see how it turns out.” With that he walked away, leaving Steve feeling defensive and frustrated.

“It will be fine Steve. I’m sure it will turn out alright,” Peggy comforted him, and he narrowed his eyes at where Loki was now examining Shuri’s design.

“Damn right it will turn out well.” As everyone who knew Steve would attest, the one thing which would motivate him to succeed better than anything else was someone questioning whether or not he could. Loki’s skepticism had been just the thing he had needed to send him over the edge from focused to frenzied in his determination to succeed. 

He measured the fabric meticulously, draped the garment over the mannequin and tested the fit on Peggy. He added embellishments, buttons and zips and piping around the garment’s edges with a precision to be envied, though he still found time to check in and see what everyone else was making.

Sam was working on a traditional silk pajama set, a decision Steve didn’t envy. He was glad he had opted for something more comfortable, because he wasn’t sure he would survive spending another day thinking about silk, considering how he had spent the previous night. Natasha was also working with silk, though she had opted for shorts rather than long pants. Wanda was making a more relaxed set, with a stretchier fabric, though Steve suspected the pattern was a little bit too simple for week three of the competition and he hoped she would be able to make it without any errors or she might be in trouble.

Shuri was using a soft cotton to make a lightweight onesie, which Steve absolutely loved. Carol, in contrast, was going with something a little bit more flirty, with a soft lace trimmed camisole and striped cotton pants in shades of red and pink. By the time Bucky came to speak to him, Steve had his shirt half finished and was pinning the collar.

“I hear this is a bit of a controversial choice,” He commented without preamble. Steve let out an almost derisive snort.

“Controversial, sure. If you think comfortable pajamas are controversial?” He kept his voice light, laughing a bit when Bucky grinned and shrugged. 

“Well, I’m no expert, but that sounds fairly natural to me,” He agreed. “You know, I have a suspicion that Loki sleeps in leather pants, so I probably wouldn’t pay him too much mind.”

Steve threw his head back, laughing at the image. He glanced over, meeting Bucky’s eyes briefly before going back to his work with a smirk. He knew Bucky was baiting him, and he figured he might as well play along.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with leather pants, in the right circumstances that is.” Bucky’s grin grew and he laughed, his face giving away his delight at Steve picking up on his hint.

“Wow, Steve, first silk, now leather? You’re gonna give a guy ideas.” Steve winked at him, smiling happily.

“That’s the plan.” He quipped, and Bucky laughed happily, shaking his head as he retreated from Steve’s table and made his way over to Wanda. Steve went back to his work, paying particular attention to the collar, not wanting to give Loki any extra ammunition to critique it.

“What was that all about, Steve?” Peggy asked, an amused smile on her red lips, and one perfectly manicured eyebrow raised. Steve flushed and explained to her in hushed tones what had happened in the previous task, and how Bucky had confirmed his interest in the corridor earlier. Peggy’s eyes widened, and she laughed out loud at his description of how he had held the silk for the shorts over his crotch.

“ _Steven,_ you didn’t!” Steve laughed and nodded, not taking his eyes off his work. 

“I did. Honestly, I have no idea where it came from. I just did it!” They giggled for the rest of the task, until Steve handed her the mostly-finished pajamas and asked her to try them on. She came out, eyes wide as she looked in the mirror.

“Steve, I need you to know that as soon as the judges are finished today, I am bringing these home with me.” Steve just smiled and asked her to turn so he could check the length of the legs were even. 

“I’m serious, these are the most comfortable things I’ve ever worn,” she continued, and Steve felt his cheeks turn pink.

“Thanks, Peg. I promise you can have them as soon as I’m allowed to bring them home.” He sent her back to change out of them so he could do his final tweaks, just as Bucky called out that they had thirty minutes left in the task. Peggy pouted jokingly at the news she would have to take them off, but followed his instructions. Steve adjusted the position of a button and neatened part of the leg’s hemline, but other than that they were good. The collar was slouchy, but he refused to change it.

He got the pajamas back to Peggy, who retreated to change into them, and looked around to see how everyone else was doing.

They all seemed to have finished, their models either changing, or already finished in Natasha’s case. Her model was now being subjected to a lint roller and trimming of stray threads. Peggy re-emerged, and Steve felt a moment of genuine envy for how comfortable she looked in his work. He was seriously looking forward to putting the extra fabric at home to good use and wearing the garment around the apartment constantly. 

“Time’s up!” Bucky called, and the judges moved to the front of the room, looking around at the creations. As the judging began, Steve realised that in spite of the usual fluttering of nerves, he wasn’t actually too stressed about what they had to say. He was fairly sure he would be safe, and he was genuinely happy with his work. Beyond that, there was nothing he could do, so he sat back and watched the feedback being given to the others, congratulating and commiserating with them as appropriate.

“This looks wonderful, Steve,” Pepper commented when Peggy approached. “It’s a great fit, and seems very comfortable.” Peggy nodded, holding out her arm for Pepper to feel the fabric.

“Oh wow, you’re going to need to tell me your supplier for this, it’s fantastic!” She complimented, and Steve grinned at her, imagining Thor’s face if Pepper Potts were to walk into his shop. Loki examined the garment next.

“There’s no denying it’s a _comfortable_ garment, but that isn’t what I’m looking for. I wonder how well made it is?” He stepped forward and examined it carefully, tugging gently on the collar and seams, until he finally had to concede that Steve had done well.

“I’m still not a fan of a slouchy collar, but it’s not awful.” Steve bit his lip, holding back an amused grin at the backhanded compliment, and subtly high fived Peggy when she came back to sit next to him.

“Seriously, I’m keeping this.” She whispered to him, and Steve laughed out loud, stopping himself when he remembered that the judging wasn’t finished, and that Carol’s model was stepping forward.

Finally, the judging was finished, and the models went to get changed. The contestants gathered together again, discussing the task and complimenting each other on their work. Wanda seemed a little subdued, and Steve had a feeling he knew why. The judges had liked her pajamas, but they weren’t totally flawless, and given the fact that she had struggled the previous day, she had to be on the line for elimination today, especially when the Judges had complimented Shuri’s choice to make a onesie rather than a more traditional pajama set.

Steve was called out for an interview while the judges conferred, and he smiled at Maria.

“So you had a bit of a run in with one of the judges today, I understand?” Steve shrugged and sighed. 

“Yeah, Loki had a bit of an issue with my idea for the collar,” He explained. “I could’ve changed it, maybe used a different fabric or added a stiffer lining, but I decided to stick to my plan. Ultimately, pajamas should be comfortable, and I’ve never heard anyone praise the comfort of a stiff collar.” Maria nodded, and asked if he regretted it, given that Loki hadn’t been convinced. 

“Nah, I mean Pepper liked it, and Loki couldn’t find any flaw beyond his own preference, so I don’t really care. Hopefully it’s enough to keep me in for another week, even if it means I’m out of the running for garment of the week.” After that, a few of the others had interview segments, and they reconvened in the sewing room for the final results.

“Thank you all for your hard work this weekend, it’s been an interesting couple of days!” Pepper began, and Steve’s eyes flicked to Bucky, whose lips twitched into a smile as he noticed Steve’s gaze. Loki stepped up to announce garment of the week, and Steve’s suspicions that his pajamas weren’t in the running were confirmed. He didn’t mind, not really. He would have liked to win it, but he was in this for the long game.

“This week’s garment of the week is a twist on classic silk pajamas. They are difficult to get right, but we felt that the precision and dedication was exceptional.” He announced, pulling away the cover on the mannequin to reveal Natasha’s silk pajamas. She smiled confidently, and Steve gave her a quick side hug in congratulations, which she returned. 

Bucky Stepped forward then, and they turned serious again.

“As always, I have the unfortunate job of announcing the sewist who will be leaving the Bee this week.” The six of them drew closer, and their hands clasped each other in support. 

“Unfortunately, this week the judges felt that this contestant didn’t fully live up to their potential. The person going home today is Wanda.” He finished somberly, and Wanda’s lip trembled, but she stayed composed as everyone moved in to envelop her in a hug. Steve had been right, he thought; this got harder and harder each week.

The judges gave some advice and congratulations as they all processed their emotions following the results. Pepper congratulated Steve on his pajamas, but warned him he would need to up his game when it came to the pattern challenge, and he knew she was serious. He had scraped by until now with his transformations and made-to measure designs, but he needed to show that he had the technical skills to follow a pattern as presented.

The hug dispersed, and Bucky stepped to the front again.

“And there you have it, that’s it for lingerie week. Congratulations Natasha, and to the rest of you. We are now officially at the halfway point of the competition, and it will only get more difficult from here.” Anxious glances were shared amongst the contestants and Steve swallowed nervously.

“Next week is all about sportswear, so make sure you do your stretches and warm up properly!” He winked at the group as a whole, but Steve noticed how his gaze seemed to linger on him and smirked. “I’ll see you all next week!” He finished, and the camera crew started to clear up while the contestants filtered out. 

The contestants made their way to the same restaurant, without anyone needing to ask. It had become a routine as much as anything else in the competition, and Wanda’s short, tearful speech was met with a round of cheers and more than one round of drinks. Steve hardly even remembered stumbling home, but he must have made it at some point, because he woke up the following morning with a killer hangover, and vague memories of Natasha and Sam’s voices telling him to “just screw him already, the sexual tension is too much to bear,” while brainstorming couple names for him and Bucky. He groaned at the memory, and went back to sleep. He had commissions to work on, but that could wait until he was feeling a bit more human.


	5. Week 4 - Active Wear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit of a break! Hope this chapter makes up for it!   
> The sketches for last week are up on [tumblr](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/post/622001873912774656/sketches-from-week-three-of-on-your-marks-get) as usual!

Steve was having a bad morning. He had somehow managed to sleep through his alarm, waking up only ten minutes before he would have to leave for the studio, thankful he had at least laid out his clothes the night before. He had been anxious for this week’s tasks since he had been given the initial list all those months before, because active wear was something Steve actively tried to avoid if he could help it. Sure, he went to the odd yoga class and tried his best to stay healthy when he could, but active wear generally only served to remind him of drafty school gyms and asthma attacks. So to say he wasn’t looking forward to this weekend was a bit of an understatement.

And now he was running late.

Coffee prepared and hastily poured into a travel mug, he left the apartment. Bruce wasn’t around, and there were no cabs to be seen, so he would have to walk to avoid being late. Physical activity to start off sports week? Fucking typical.

He was halfway there when it happened. It was almost like slow motion — he saw it coming but was powerless to stop it. The car, turning the corner and driving towards the large puddle on the street from the previous night’s rain, sending water directly towards where Steve was walking. The giant spray of dirty road water soaked his entire right side. He jumped, too late to avoid the deluge but just in time for the lid of his coffee cup to come loose, spilling onto his shirt and soaking the half which had remained dry. 

He made it to the studio with time to spare, thankfully, although he had no clue what to do about his clothes. He was completely unfit to be seen in public, let alone on television. He figured there would be clothes around here somewhere, considering he was on the set of a sewing show, so he asked at sign in where would be best to look. He was directed to a door just down the hall from where he usually gave his interviews, and knocked on the door.

It was answered by a young woman, who took one look at him and pulled him inside the room. It seemed to be a makeup room, with mirrors and makeup chairs along one wall. Steve figured it must be for the models, and maybe the judges if they needed a touch-up. The woman led him to another door, opening it to reveal a well stocked wardrobe.

“Alright, let me look at you,” she said, matter-of-fact, standing back and taking Steve in. He felt distinctly objectified, as her eyes took him in, and then she clicked her tongue thoughtfully a few times and went to search among the racks of clothing.

“You’re a little smaller than the guys we usually have in here, no offence, but I’m sure we can find you something.” Steve stood awkwardly, feeling his clothes drying against his skin. 

“Okay, strip. I have a few options here to try,” She re-emerged carrying a large stack of clothes, which she dumped on a chair before looking at Steve expectantly. He looked around at the door, then at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Alright, fine, I’ll go get coffee, you try on what looks good to you. Nobody comes in here normally, so your dignity is safe. Way to spoil a girl’s fun.” She left, and Steve started looking through the offered clothes. He could tell the pants were mostly women’s, but he didn’t mind— he generally favoured less masculine styles anyway. He pulled off his own pants, finding a pair of distressed light-wash jeans in the stack and putting them on. They fit him well — really well, actually. He wondered if he might be allowed to keep them. 

He peeled off his coffee stained shirt next, praying that the stain would wash out. He was looking through the pile for a replacement, when the door behind him opened.

“Hey, Darce, do you have any- oh!” Steve turned to find none other than Bucky Barnes standing in the doorway, frozen mid sentence and looking at Steve. 

“Uh… Hi,” Steve broke the silence, trying to sound nonchalant but aware of the flush spreading across his face which he knew would soon be making its way down his  _ very naked _ chest. Bucky swallowed, face slack, and then smiled; shaking out of whatever had caused him to pause and leaning against the door frame, closing it behind him.

“What brings you in here? And where’s Darcy?” He asked, and Steve just gestured to his stained, damp clothes, then to the door which Darcy had left through. He turned and continued to dig through the pile of clothes, glad for the excuse to tear his eyes away from Bucky.

“She left me to change, said she was getting coffee. Aha!” He finally found something he thought he could wear with the jeans, and turned back to Bucky. “What do you think?” He asked, holding the shirt up to his chest. The way Bucky looked at him cast his mind forcibly back to the incident with the chemise the previous week, and if the way Bucky cleared his throat was any indication, he wasn’t the only one to draw that connection.

“Looks good,” He forced out finally, and Steve pulled the shirt on over his head. It was a little over-sized, but he tucked it in and it seemed to work alright. Steve smiled at him and gathered up the clothes neatly, unsure what to do with his own. Before he could think too much on it, Darcy returned with two coffee cups, handing one to Steve and looking curiously between him and Bucky.

“Hey Buckster, what brings you to my little cave?” Bucky paused, as though he had forgotten himself, but he finally mumbled something about concealer, causing Darcy to laugh and point him in the direction of a makeup box with a “Help yourself.” Steve was standing in the middle of the room, and Darcy looked him over again, nodding in approval.

“You clean up good, Steve, I gotta admit. Doesn’t he look practically edible?” She asked, turning to ask Bucky’s opinion, who stumbled over his words, blushing as he agreed with her. Steve left the room feeling a lot better than he had that morning, with Darcy’s promise that his own clothes would be cleaned for him by the following day, but that he should feel free to keep what he had on him if he liked it.

“I’m sure their original owners would be only too happy for you to keep them,” was the last thing he heard before he left for the sewing room, bypassing the locker room due to his lateness. He hardly took the time to question what she had meant by that, because he was being welcomed by the others and questioned on his lateness.

“It’s a long story involving a puddle and the worst morning imaginable, you can fill in the blanks.” Sam winced in solidarity and clapped him on the shoulder.

“You don’t look too upset about it, though,” Natasha observed, and Steve shook his head.

“I mean, I got a new outfit out of it, so I can’t really complain.” 

That was all the time they had for conversation, because just then the camera crew started filming and the judges walked in, followed by Bucky, and they stood at the top of the room. The contestants gathered in front of them, only five of them left now. In such a small group, Steve felt simultaneously proud to have made it this far, and anxious over the increased competition.

“Good morning, Sewists! Welcome to sports week. Apparently, the judges wanted to do this challenge week one, but it just didn’t  _ work out _ ,” Bucky began with a smirk, pausing for a reaction. Loki groaned and rubbed his nose in exasperation, and Carol snorted in amusement. “Anyway, the judges have some tricky challenges in line for you this week, so I hope you have all warmed up effectively.” He passed it over to the judges, looking incredibly proud of his jokes.

Loki introduced the pattern challenge this time — to make a women’s swimsuit with a mesh lining and Steve swore internally, his brief good mood dissipating almost immediately. How had he not made the connection between sports week and stretch fabrics? This was  _ really _ not going to be his week.

He looked through the pattern, noting the necessary fabrics, and then went to look through the selection of stretch nylon and polyester. He finally found one he liked, metallic pink which glittered in the light, and looked almost black in the shade. He picked up a plain mesh for the lining and hurried back to his table to begin the arduous task of laying out and pinning the fabric to cut.

He was wrestling with the front panel when Bucky approached him.

“So, how are you feeling for the week ahead?” He asked, and Steve grimaced. Bucky laughed, “That bad, huh?” 

“Sports and I do not get along,” Steve replied, with a laugh. “And I’ve never been great with stretch fabrics, either.” Steve swore as the pattern slipped on the fabric again, and he had to unpin for the third time to get it lined up properly.

“Oh no!” Bucky seemed to be genuinely sympathetic, and Steve managed a smile before resuming his focus on the pattern. “If it’s worth anything, I have faith in you.” With that, Bucky nodded abruptly and turned to talk with Shuri, and Steve was left watching after him, a fond smile on his lips.

He finally got the pattern pieces cut out, almost perfect, and rewarded himself with a drink of his now cold coffee just in time to hear an announcement for the remaining time.

“Half an hour left!” Steve choked on the coffee, staring at all the work he had left to do. He set to work in a frenzy, feeling the cameras honing in on him as he pieced the swimsuit together in a panic, the lining crooked and the seams bunched up around the right leg hole. He just about got it on the mannequin when the time finished, but it was rough. 

A look at the others showed that while they might have had difficulties, none of them had been as frantic as Steve. He watched the judging with a heavy weight in his stomach. 

“This has a bit of stretching around the neckline, but it’s otherwise well constructed. A nice choice of fabric, too,” Loki complimented, examining Sam’s piece, who sighed in relief and returned to his seat. Pepper declared Natasha’s suit “nicely done, though it seems to be fitting a little bit tight on the mannequin.”

Shuri’s was also good, with very few flaws to be seen. Steve was up next, and he had to fight to avoid closing his eyes until it was over.

“You struggled with cutting the fabric, I hear?” Steve nodded at Pepper’s question, and braced for the verdict.

“Well, there are obvious flaws,” Loki began, causing a flinch. “You rushed the actual sewing, and it shows in the quality of the garment.” Steve nodded, feeling embarrassed at what he had produced.

“You can do much better than this,” Pepper concluded, and Steve smiled grimly, taking that as a signal to go back to his spot, dejected and disappointed. With Carol’s garment labelled as, “A little sloppy” by Pepper, they were ranked from best to worst, and then released for lunch as usual.

Steve was quiet as he ate. The others dissected their troubles with the task, but he couldn’t bring himself to partake. When he was called for his interview with Maria, he approached it with his head hung low.

“So this was your second week in a row coming last in the pattern challenge, how are you feeling?” Maria asked, and Steve bristled, though he tried not to show it. 

“I’m disappointed in myself. I always knew this week would be an uphill climb for me, but I hoped I’d get off to a better start than this.” She nodded in sympathy, and asked if he had any strategy going forward.

“I just really need to prove I can do this. Even if I do end up leaving this week — ” He paused to clear his throat, hating the thought that this really could be the end of the line for him, “If this is my last week, I really want to make sure I’ve done all I can  — to end on a high note, you know?” Maria nodded and smiled at him.

“Well, the transformation seems to be your best challenge; you usually excel at them, so don’t worry too much yet, eh?” Steve nodded in agreement.

“Maybe it was too much to hope that I would actually succeed at a pattern challenge. Hopefully the transformation goes well.” They wrapped it up then, and he was back with the others. They had thankfully moved on from the pattern challenge talk, and Steve joined in with them as they theorised what could be up next for them. The suggestions varied from tailoring a track suit, to fashioning something out of scuba gear. 

Steve steeled himself as he re-entered the sewing room, seeing that whatever they would be using seemed to be stacked on a shelf. He was almost excited to find out what it would be, after the conversation in the break room.

“Welcome back, sewists! I hope you had a nice lunch, I know I enjoyed my protein shake with extra fibre,” Bucky began, pausing before he laughed and corrected himself, “I’m kidding, I had a massive hamburger, it was delicious.” Everyone laughed at his joke, but Natasha just rolled her eyes.

“Right, well, the judges have an interesting transformation challenge for you this week. You’ll have to be…  _ flexible _ in your plans, or so I hear…”

Loki stepped forward to the shelves, pulling it back to reveal what they would be working with. Steve gaped, and exchanged a gobsmacked look with Carol. They looked at the judges, hoping there would be a laugh, and then a reveal of the  _ actual _ items they would be transforming into clothes. There was no such luck.

“As you can see, we have a stack of Yoga mats here,” Loki began to explain. “They are made of rubber, a very non-traditional medium for clothing. For this challenge, we really want you to play around with structure and come up with something daring.” As he finished, Pepper spoke up.

“Of course, for this you are welcome to use extra fabric from the haberdashery, but make sure the yoga mat is a key element in your garment.”

Steve was frozen in place, mind completely blank through the process of picking a yoga mat and unrolling it onto his table. He stared at it blankly, wondering how on earth he could make something worth showing out of this monstrosity. At least he had gotten a pleasant enough colour, deep blue with a subtle ripple of paler shades running through it so it looked like the ocean.

He would just need to improvise, with no ideas forthcoming and not enough time to really mull it over in his mind. He brought the mat over to his mannequin and attempted to drape it in a few different directions, eventually deciding he could use it as a back panel and structured train for a dress. He grabbed some fabric in a sandy beige, thinking he could try for a beach themed gown, with sand and waves.

He knew it was likely a terrible idea, but it was the only one he had. He worked with the fabric first, sticking with what he knew, and fashioned a simple shift dress, with an opening in the back for the panels of rubber to slot in. He wasn’t even sure whether the rubber would go through the sewing machine, but there was only one way to find out. 

When Bucky stopped by, Steve explained what he was working on, and was met by a brief silence.

“That sounds… Interesting,” he responded finally, and Steve winced.

“I totally blanked, this was all I could think of!”

“Well, the dress part is cute, anyway,” Bucky offered, with the same tone of voice someone would use when they complimented the lighting at a play where both the acting and direction were practically unwatchable. Steve snorted and thanked him sarcastically.

“If the challenge were to make a basic dress out of simple fabric, I’d be way out in front!” He responded drily, and Bucky shrugged.

“That’s the spirit, Stevie. Gotta stay positive!” With that, he walked away, and Steve watched him go.

_ Stevie?  _

Ignoring the nickname for his own sense of sanity, Steve went back to work, snipping the rubber and doing his best to attach it to the dress. As it turned out, the sewing machine did work on it, but only just. He had to wrestle the garment into position, and then sew gently and precisely to avoid breaking a needle — or worse, having to start over, because the yoga mat would be damaged beyond use if he had to rip out any stitches. 

In the end, the garment was wobbly, but he hoped he would be able to pass it off as a stylistic choice, something about waves in the ocean or something like that. 

He had a brainwave with only five minutes to go, rushing to grab some wire, and threading it into the skirt’s train so it was held in a more exaggerated wave. It fixed the problem slightly, and Steve was relieved that it was going to look at least vaguely presentable. The time was running out, though, and Bucky called time on the task before he could get it back on the mannequin.

He called for help, and Bucky rushed over, helping him to get the dress onto the mannequin. It was tight, and they pushed and pulled and stretched to no avail. Finally, something gave, and the dress slid into place, but not without a loud  _ riiiip _ echoing through the room. 

Everyone froze, all eyes turning to see what had happened. Steve glanced down to see the entire side seam had come undone. There was nothing he could do. The time was up, and the garment was ruined.

A glance at Bucky saw the other man looking horrified. 

“Steve, god I am so sorry, this is all my fault! I pulled too hard, I should have been more careful!” Bucky was rambling in shock, and Steve patted his arm consolingly. 

“It’s not your fault. It was never going to fit properly, look.” He grabbed the open seam and tried to make the fabric sides meet, to no avail. There was at least an inch of space between them. He smiled at Bucky sadly as he took the mannequin and rolled it into the line alongside everyone else’s garments. Bucky looked paler than usual as he took his spot behind the judges.

Unfortunately for Steve, this was not a repeat of the babygrow incident; where everyone had visibly struggled. Sure, Carol’s was also slightly dodgy, but the other three looked like something which wouldn’t have been out of place on a high end runway show. Steve felt his heart sink. For the second time that day, he knew he was going to be in the bottom of the ranking.

He couldn’t pay attention to the judging, knowing exactly what would happen. He hardly registered Bucky stepping forward and taking the blame for the rip in the fabric; Pepper’s sympathetic look followed by a blunt repetition of what Steve had already pointed out. It wouldn’t have ripped if it were the right size.

He came fourth, which was slightly surprising. He had expected to be last, but they had at least commended him for the wave idea in the train. He knew it wasn’t enough to bring him to safety, but it was something, at least. 

He trudged out almost as soon as they were released, just wanting to go home and climb into bed, only to meet Bucky in his usual spot by the car. He was about to walk past without sparing too much thought for him, when he heard his name called. He turned to see Bucky waving.

“Hi,” Steve took a step towards the car, where Bucky was looking at him with a serious expression.

“I just want to apologise again,” He started, and Steve shook his head. Before he could argue that it hadn't been Bucky’s fault, he was cut off. “I know what you’re going to say, and I know what Pepper said, and I still feel bad, alright? Let me make it up to you.” 

“How do you intend to do that?” Steve moved to stand closer to Bucky, unable to restrain himself from injecting just a hint of flirtation into his tone. Bucky smiled and ducked his head.

“I can start by giving you a ride home?” Steve looked behind Bucky to the interior of the car, then out to the evening sky. With the luck he had been having today, it would probably start raining again before he was halfway home and he really didn’t want to deal with that right now.

“Yeah, okay. I probably won’t be great company, though. Fair warning.” Bucky shrugged and got into the car, sliding across the backseat to let Steve in next to him. Steve sat awkwardly while Bucky spoke with the driver, giving his address when asked. The car pulled away, and the driver winked at them, raising a privacy barrier.

Steve was suddenly very aware of his proximity with Bucky, and he flushed. They had never actually been alone together, without cameras or a likelihood of someone walking in. When he turned to glance at Bucky, he found him looking at the shirt he had borrowed that morning. Steve caught his eye and raised a brow in question. Bucky coughed and shrugged.

“That’s a good look on you,” was all he said, and Steve glanced down at himself, slightly amused.

“It’s not that different from what I normally wear, even if the shirt’s a little loose. I guess I pull it off, though,” Steve mused, wondering where Bucky was going with this. He turned slightly, as much as the seat belt would allow, and Bucky did the same.

“Jesus, Steve. You have no fucking clue.” Steve’s eyes widened; Bucky’s voice was half a shade deeper than usual, and it was intoxicating.

“Is that so?” Steve asked, raking his eyes over Bucky. He leaned forward, ever so slightly, and a spark raced through his body when Bucky licked his bottom lip. The car turned a corner and Steve was brought back to reality, running a hand through his hair and leaning against the door in an attempt to look nonchalant.

Bucky smirked and Steve felt his heavy gaze following each movement.

“I might have some idea,” Steve teased, after a moment’s heavy silence. Bucky laughed — a rich, vibrant sound, and the sound of it pulled Steve out of the lingering remains of his bad mood. The rest of the drive was spent in easy silence, though there was a tension in the air, as memories of Bucky’s heated look and their flirtations ran through Steve’s mind. As the car turned onto Steve’s street, Bucky cleared his throat.

“Can I ask you something personal?” Steve nodded with a curious smile, wondering what he could possibly be about to ask. “Feel free not to answer, but it’s been driving me crazy all week,” he continued.

“Just ask the damn question, Barnes.” Bucky glanced ahead, as though to make sure the privacy screen was still up.

“What you said last week, about what you were making for the transformation… Was that serious or were you just flirting?” Steve racked his mind for which comment he was referring to, before realisation struck and he laughed. He had alluded to owning and wearing silky lingerie, and he preened at the confirmation that Bucky liked the image as much as he had hoped he would. The car stopped and Steve unbuckled his seat belt, leaning into Bucky so he could whisper into his ear. The move brought them close together, and Steve could feel Bucky’s breath on his neck.

“Maybe you’ll get a chance to see for yourself some day,” Steve didn’t linger for long, pulling back and opening the car door and climbing out with a friendly “See you in the morning, thanks for the ride!”

He waved behind him as he exited the car, just catching the punched-out curse from Bucky as he closed the door behind him. He smiled to himself as he let himself in and made his way upstairs.

It was almost enough to make him forget his dire performance in the challenges, but by the time he had eaten dinner, and glanced at the pattern laid out on the coffee table for the made-to-measure, it all came crashing back down on him. He was seriously at risk for going home this week, and unless he absolutely nailed the pattern and fit, he was doomed.

He didn’t sleep well that night, thoughts of failure running through his head, and he woke up tired and frustrated. 

He met Bruce in the entryway again the following morning, both of them leaving this time, and greeted him with a tired smile.

“You look down, what’s wrong?” Steve gave him a quick rundown of the previous day, and Bruce frowned sympathetically. 

“You can’t go into today feeling like you need to be perfect. Just do your best. I know you, and I know you’ve always done your best work under pressure, so channel that stubbornness and you’ll be good.” Steve snorted, knowing he was right. He had never been the kind of person who gave into hopelessness, so he wasn’t sure why he was coming close to that now. 

He tried to forget about the previous day’s troubles, focusing instead on what he could do to prove he deserved to stay. He didn’t succeed totally, but it was all he could do for now. They parted ways when Bruce got to his car and Steve continued on his walk to the studio, thankfully avoiding any further incidents with puddles or coffee.

He made the most of his time with the others, laughing and joking and trying his best not to think about how this may very well be his last day here.

“Alright, alright. Enough about that crap,” Carol announced out of nowhere, as they were discussing something which had been on TV during the week. She turned to Steve with a wicked grin, and he froze.

“You left pretty quickly yesterday, which is fine,” her tone was teasing, “I left pretty quickly too, actually. I happened to see you out on the street. I was going to offer you a ride,” At this she glanced at the others, who looked equal parts confused and interested in where she was going with this. Steve groaned and buried his head in his hands as she finished, “But it seems someone else got there before me, huh?” 

Natasha and Sam turned to him, eyes wide, and Shuri clapped with glee.

“You  _ didn’t!”  _ Sam exclaimed, eagerly.

“He offered me a ride because he felt bad for ripping my dress! It was totally innocent!” Shuri scoffed at him.

“Sure, it was just guys being pals. Next you’re gonna claim he wasn’t so distracted by you wearing his shirt that he tripped over nothing and forgot to announce the time.” 

“He was just-” The second half of her sentence caught up with him, and he blinked. “What do you mean, wearing his shirt?”

The room was quiet while the others looked at him. Their expressions varied from amused surprise to genuine disbelief.

“Steve, dude,” Sam finally spoke up. “That’s Bucky’s shirt. He wore it last season for vintage week; it must’ve been left in the wardrobe department.” Steve looked down at the shirt, thinking back on the previous season. Now that Sam had mentioned it, it did look familiar. He flushed, wishing they didn’t have to wear the same clothes both days of the weekend for ease of editing. 

Suddenly, Bucky’s reaction to seeing him pick out the shirt made a lot more sense. He probably thought Steve had picked it on purpose. And Darcy had made that comment about the  _ original owners _ being happy for him to keep the clothes. His eyes bugged as he played back the way Bucky had looked at him. 

“Shit,” He muttered, and Sam snorted, turning back to his pattern. The others followed his lead, and Steve was sure he heard a muttered “dumb fucking white boys” from Shuri. 

Steve continued to replay the previous night in his mind. Bucky had liked seeing him in his clothes. Fortunately — or not, depending on perspective — he was saved from any further contemplation of what might have happened had the drive been a little longer. His name was called for an interview, and he was forcibly pulled back into the present. He was here for a competition; and one which he was dangerously close to losing. He told Maria about his determination to just do his best, in the hopes that it would be enough.

“If I do leave this week, I want it to be on a high note. I don’t intend to give in without a fight.” 

He talked about feeling nervous, about not wanting to let himself get distracted into making a mistake. He didn’t mention that a large portion of his brain was occupied with the desire to check whether Bucky was watching him, observing the expression on his face to see whether Shuri had been correct in her assessment of the previous day.

As he walked into the sewing room later, Steve wondered if his compartmentalisation skills had ever gotten this much of a workout before. 

“Good morning contestants!” Pepper announced cheerily. “The made-to measure challenge this week is particularly difficult, for a number of reasons,” He was hyper aware of Bucky’s presence, all of his effort dedicated to paying attention to the judges.

“You will be most likely using a stretch fabric, which presents its own challenge. On top of this, your design which will need to be perfectly fitted. The challenge is to make a yoga outfit, so ease of movement is imperative.” 

The judges didn’t give any extra advice, letting Bucky step forward to start the task. Steve only felt a slight flutter in his chest when Bucky met his eyes as he looked at each of the contestants in turn, which he was grateful for. He turned his attention to the task at hand, greeting Peggy with a hug and pulling out the fabric he had chosen.

“I had the absolute worst day yesterday, so probably won’t be much fun to work with today,” He warned her with a grim smile, and thankfully she didn’t try to argue, just hugged him a little tighter before letting him go.

“So tell me what you’re making for me today.” Steve’s smile turned a little more genuine at the way she recognised his need to not focus on the previous day’s events, and launched into an explanation. Loki approached when Steve was halfway through his explanation and sorting through his pattern pieces, and he faltered mid sentence.

“No, please carry on. This looks to be a very nice fabric choice,” He commented, running his hands over the galaxy-print spandex blend. Steve shook himself and began to explain again. 

“The pants will be made mostly of the galaxy print, with this deep purple forming a contrast on the waistband and down the right leg. Then there’s a sports bra made of the purple, with galaxy print on the band and the straps, which will cross over in the back.” Loki narrowed his eyes, taking in the fabric and the pattern while Steve stood aside nervously.

“Sounds like a solid plan. A little basic, but it should turn out well.” At this, Steve bit his lip and glanced between Loki and Peggy. 

Fuck it, he decided. Even if he did this perfectly, there was still a chance the simplicity would send him home, so why not risk it.

“Actually, there is another piece, if I finish early enough.” He blurted, pulling the pattern for the loose fitting smock-style vest with an open back which would, theoretically, go over the sports bra. He indicated the light, almost sheer blue fabric in the corner which he would use to make it, and Loki almost looked impressed.

“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing whether you get it done, in that case. I think it would really complete the ensemble.” Steve nodded with a tight smile, feeling the nerves flutter in his throat as Loki walked away.

“Looks like I better make the shirt,” He muttered to Peggy, who gave him an encouraging thumbs up. 

Surprisingly, once he got to work, a strange sense of zen took over him. He said as much aloud, and Sam laughed.

“Sounds like you’re really getting into the yoga aspect of it.” Steve snorted and shot back a sarcastic reply, never once faltering in his work. Yesterday’s swimsuit disaster actually proved beneficial, as he now knew exactly what  _ not  _ to do with the stretchy fabrics.

Not only was he focused, but he was actually aware of the people around him while he worked. Conversation didn’t exactly flow continuously, but every now and again someone would make a comment about the task and there would be a flurry of replies before they all once again lost themselves in their work.

“Could someone go back in time and ask my past self why she thought it would be a good idea to make leggings with this many different panels? I can’t even tell which is which anymore!” Carol was sorting through at least twelve pieces of lycra in various shades and patterns.

“Here, take this, it’s good for labelling segments!” Shuri passed her something and Carol sighed in relief as she separated her pieces out again, this time labelling them all with where they should go.

Steve was halfway done with his leggings when Bucky entered the room. Steve knew he often dressed on theme for segments in the aired version of the show. He knew it because he was currently wearing Bucky’s shirt from the vintage week the previous season. Steve had assumed all of that stuff happened in separate filming times, since he hadn’t noticed anything significantly on-theme in his time in the sewing room, but when he looked up now his mouth went dry.

Bucky was dressed in a pair of brightly patterned leggings, and even though he had shorts over them, every inch of his legs were clearly defined under the Lycra. He only realised he was staring when Natasha cleared her throat pointedly and threw a pincushion at his head, pulling him out of the daydream which had been sparked by the sight of Bucky’s toned thighs. He felt himself turn bright red, refocusing on his work carefully.

“Sam! Tell me, are you a yoga man?” Steve heard Bucky ask. He only half paid attention to the banter Bucky had with the others, until he got to Carol.

“Do you have a workout playlist you listen to?” Carol responded that she usually listened to podcasts when she was at the gym, and Bucky hummed in thought.

“I’m partial to an 80s pop beat myself. Nothing like Blondie and Olivia Newton-John to get you pumped.” Steve snorted at that, adding the final stitch to his leggings and passing them off to Peggy to try on. Bucky’s head turned to him, as though he was unaware he had been listening.

“Aww, Steve, don’t tell me you have something against Olivia!” Steve just shrugged and shook his head. The truth was, he had a pretty similar taste in workout music, but he wanted to see how Bucky would react. He wasn’t disappointed, as Bucky crossed the room to him, humming aggressively before bursting into song when he reached him.

“ _ Let’s get physical! Physical!”  _ Steve flushed at the suggestive nature of the lyrics, but couldn’t fight the laugh at Bucky’s overly dramatic gestures. He sang the chorus through and then broke off into laughter.

“Alright, fine! You’ve convinced me,” Steve joked as Peggy emerged wearing the leggings, and he turned to look her over, declaring the leggings close to perfect and deciding to make a start on the sports bra.

“I still prefer Irene Cara, though,” he finished, smirking at Bucky, who rolled his eyes with a smile when he realised that Steve had not actually been making fun of his taste in music.

“There’s hope for you yet. How are you doing here?” he asked, and Steve shrugged. 

“I think i’m doing better than yesterday, at least. Not sure if it’s going to be enough to keep me in, but we’ll see.” He glanced up to see Bucky was watching him with a conflicted expression, but it was gone as soon as he noticed it.

“Well I have faith in you. You just have to take your passion…” Steve raised an eyebrow when he saw Bucky struggling to hide a smirk as he spoke, “And make it happen. Pictures come alive,” he continued in a very serious voice before the grin broke through his voice as he finished the line and then burst into song for the chorus.

“ _ What a feeling! _ ” He wandered away, dancing and singing, while Steve was left halfway between laughter and astonishment at the ridiculous behaviour. He went back to work, sparing a glance for Peggy, who shook her head.

“God, Steve, you clearly have it bad if you thought that was anything other than idiotic.” He shrugged with a sigh, pinning the pieces for the sports bra together.

The rest of the task passed without incident, and Steve finished the sports bra shortly after the half hour call. He would be cutting it tight, but he thought he might actually have time for the shirt. He asked Peggy to dress in the other pieces while he worked, and passed the last section of the task in a flurry of cutting, adjusting, and pinning before running the simple garment through the sewing machine in the last minute before the time was up. Thankfully it was supposed to be loose-fitting, so he didn’t have to adjust it to Peggy’s exact proportions, and she got it over her head just in time.

As he looked at her, he knew Loki had been right. It really tied the whole look together, and he was glad he had risked it.

He looked around at the others, admiring their work. Sam’s bicycle shorts and vest were perfectly fitted, and the shades of green worked really well together. Natasha’s black and charcoal leggings were flawless, and the red shirt she had paired with them hugged the model perfectly. Shuri had gone for something more structural, with lots of panels in the leggings and sports bra which made them look almost robotic. Carol’s leggings had unfortunately been harmed by the earlier shuffling of the panels, so they fit the model a little oddly, but overall the design was solid, and Steve knew the competition would be tight for garment of the week.

The judges seemed to reflect his thoughts about the others, and his heart was beating fast as Peggy approached the judges. They looked at her from every angle, pointing out different aspects of his design. He watched with bated breath, anxiety building the longer they inspected his work. They exchanged a look then turned to him, and his heart stopped as Loki broke into a smile.

“Well done, Steve. You’ve really shown us your skills here.” His breath escaped him in a rush, and he hardly took in the rest of their feedback, he was so relieved not to have mucked it up. He had even gotten a  _ smile _ from  _ Loki. _

He had an interview with Maria while the judges conferred, and for the first time, he wasn’t forcing himself to believe what he was saying when he told her that even though he would miss everyone, he was happy with what he had achieved here and proud of how far he had come. He didn’t expect to necessarily have saved himself today, but he had made something to be proud of and knew he would at least be going out on a high.

“Welcome back everyone! The judges have been hard at work debating the results this week, and it was closer than ever.” Bucky explained when they were all brought back together. Pepper revealed Shuri to be the winner of garment of the week, her leggings sealing the deal for her. And then it was the moment of truth as Bucky smiled sadly at the assembled group. They huddled together, Steve in between Carol and Sam, his arms around both of them, and their arms around him. He could feel Natasha’s hand against him where it lay on Sam’s shoulder, and he knew that Shuri was curled into her side on the other end of the group.

“Well, you all know what comes next. This gets more difficult with each week that goes by, but unfortunately someone has to go. I’m afraid that this week, we will be saying goodbye to Carol.” Steve froze in his spot, eyes wide.

He was safe?

It took almost a full minute for him to comprehend it, and by then everyone had descended into a group hug once again. Carol was smiling sadly, tears in her eyes, but she seemed to have been going through a similar thought process as Steve, because she was hugging everyone around her, thanking them for the last four weeks.

Steve hugged her back tight, still not having processed it fully. 

“I was so sure it was going to be me,” He half whispered. “I had my speech for the restaurant planned and everything.” She laughed sadly and shrugged.

“I had a shitty day yesterday too, remember? And I didn’t manage to make Loki legit grin with my made-to-measure. You have to kick ass in the semi-final though, okay? For me?” He nodded at her, hugging her again as their attention was called back to the judges.

“As you know, next week is the semi-final, which means we will be expecting the highest of quality from the remaining contestants. We have faith in all of you, but you’ll need to put in the work to prepare.” Pepper looked around as she spoke, face stern, but then she broke into a smile and congratulated them.

“Next week is going to be interesting, and we have some very technical challenges in store for you all! So dust off your jazz shoes, and grab your ration cards, because we’ll be going back to the 1940's for the week!”

Steve had been looking forward to seeing what 1940's week had in store— the retro weeks were always his favourites when watching the show at home, and he was over the moon that he would be able to participate this time around.

The restaurant that evening was a raucous affair, with Carol insisting that everyone had at least two rounds of shots with her before the food even arrived, and then plenty more afterwards. Her speech was short and to the point, but left them all emotional anyway. They stayed later than ever, only leaving when they were ushered out by the owner, and spilling into a bar by mutual agreement.

The mood picked up quickly, as they theorised about possible tasks they could be faced with, and Steve stumbled home in the early hours of the morning feeling giddy and excited, thinking about swing dresses and dashing soldiers in uniform.

Carol’s parting words to him as she had left the bar didn’t come back to him until the middle of the week, but her command to  _ make a move and get your man, dear God, _ echoed in his mind as he researched vintage patterns and techniques for the challenges ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on twitter @Rainbow_Nerds_ to cry about Stucky <3


	6. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude from Bucky's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to continue aiming for monthly updates on this going forward rather than pressuring myself to write quickly, since I have quite a bit on my plate right now.  
> I posted the sketches from last chapter's challenges on [tumblr](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/post/624082018716811264/today-in-i-loved-writing-the-descriptions-and) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Nerds_/status/1284864036795031552?s=20) if anyone wants to check them out!  
> Major thanks to [Nospheratt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nospheratt/profile) for helping me wrap my head around this segment, I hope you all like this little insight into Bucky's POV!

Bucky loved his job. He loved talking to people about what they were passionate about — getting to know them, forging relationships and helping them when they were stressed. He had always been outgoing and confident, and he had been over the moon to get the job hosting the Sewing Bee when it started five years ago, despite not having the first clue about sewing. He had picked up a few bits and pieces along the way but at the end of the day, he wasn’t expected to be an expert.

He made sure to break the ice with each of the contestants before filming started so they could be more natural on camera and to get an idea for the different personality types he’d be working with for the next number of weeks. This year had been no different; the gathering before week one filled with easy conversations, taking note of who was talking to whom, what everyone was wearing, how they responded to him. But then he had spotted  _ him _ , and suddenly it wasn’t so straightforward anymore.

Steve was…. Well. He was exactly Bucky’s type, which was the problem. Skinny and stubborn and well dressed; with a wicked sense of humour and eyes that seemed to glint with mischief every time he looked at Bucky. He managed to hit every single one of Bucky’s sweet spots — all while standing in front of a camera — and somehow still found time to make the most amazing clothes which had seen him through to the semi-finals..

It was as though everything Steve did was carefully calculated to get Bucky going. Whether it was small things like a carefully timed quirk of his eyebrow or a subtle innuendo, or more obvious — such as all but asking Bucky to picture him in silky lingerie — and  _ god,  _ Bucky had certainly spent a lot of time dwelling on that particular image — Bucky could never seem to make it through an interaction with Steve with his composure fully intact.

And then Steve had worn  _ his  _ shirt; one he had worn while filming the previous season. He had worn it so casually it was almost as though he hadn’t even realised what he was doing, and Bucky had hardly been able to keep himself from devouring him. In fact, he had a feeling that if Steve lived two streets further away from the studio, he would absolutely not have been able to reign himself in any longer. 

Basically, Bucky was fucked. Well, he wasn’t, but he really,  _ really _ wanted to be. It was getting to be a bit of an issue.

And unfortunately; it was an issue which had not gone unnoticed by his colleagues.

“God, You should’ve seen your  _ face _ , Bucky. Absolutely priceless.” Darcy was currently in the middle of what had rapidly become her daily “tease Bucky about his obvious crush” routine. He had learned not to argue, to just sit back and let it happen. She ran out of steam faster when he didn’t give her any extra ammunition.

“And really, serenading him with 80’s pop? What on earth were you thinking?” Bucky smiled absently, shrugging in answer. Steve had looked absolutely delighted with the move, incredibly cheesy as it had been.

He checked the time just as she was about to start into her tried and true “make Bucky blush with talk of lingerie” spiel, and hopped out of the chair he had perched in while she got his hair appropriately under control. 

“Well, this was lovely, but I’m afraid I have places to go, segments to discuss!” She waved him off without much of a fuss and he made his way out into the corridor, towards the production meeting. The studio was quiet and eerie during the week, but he had grown used to it. While the contestants only came in on weekends, Bucky was there most days during the week — there were segments to film explaining the tasks in more detail to the audience, expository conversations with the judges to stage, as well as lighthearted comedic segments based on the theme for the week.

Today, he had a production meeting to look over the scripts for the historical segments of the upcoming episode, and then an interview with a fashion historian to film. 

“Barnes! There you are, we’ve been waiting for you.” Tony Stark, head of production, greeted him as he walked into the room. 

“Hey Tony, nice to see you too.” Tony waved him off easily as he walked in and settled into his usual spot. The others on the crew were all there already, multiple conversations happening at once across the table. 

Bucky endured another round of ribbing from the gathered crowd in good nature. The thing was, Bucky may have been incredibly embarrassed by the way everyone seemed to be focused on his love life, but at the same time he felt a little thrill go through his chest all the same.

They were his friends, after all. Over the past five seasons, they had gotten to know each other very well, and had become like family. Quite literally, in Tony and Pepper’s case, as they had gone from grudging colleagues to strangely endearing power couple over the course of the third season.

Bucky understood their teasing of him now was at least partially payback for how he had spent a lot of that year winking and giving not-so-subtle encouragement to them along the way. The crew behind the scenes were also in on the joke, and even Loki had raised an eyebrow or two at him after he found out that Bucky had brought Steve home after the transformation challenge last week.

Thankfully, Bucky was pretty sure that they all assumed Bucky was just thirsty for Steve. And he really  _ was  _ thirsty for Steve, but that wasn’t everything. There was something about Steve Rogers, whether it was the way he could go from joking around to laser focused in a heartbeat; the way he refused to give up even when it seemed like the odds were stacked against him; the way he had interacted with the Peter kid and bonded with his regular model, along with his fellow contestants. Bucky wasn’t just thirsty for the man, he was absolutely smitten.

The others had seen him flirt with contestants before but that had been playful, innocent — always with an understanding that it was purely friendly, and never quite so focused on a single contestant. It was no wonder, really, that they had decided to run with his infatuation with Steve.

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but Bucky preempted him.

“Alright, alright. Get your teasing out early, I can take it.” Tony looked gleeful.

“You shouldn’t have encouraged him,” Pepper leaned over and whispered. “He’s made a highlight reel.” Bucky cringed as he saw Tony flick on the projection screen which he hadn’t noticed when he first walked in and sure enough, there was a highlight reel.

Steve teasing Bucky with lingerie. Bucky gushing over Steve’s baby pictures. Bucky running to the haberdashery and agonising over what type of zip Steve would appreciate for his transformation — followed by a close up of the eager expression on his face when Steve had liked his favourite choice. There was a sappy love song playing over the whole thing, and Bucky let his head drop down to the table. He closed his eyes and waited for the video to finish. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been hiding the sappier side of his crush on Steve as well as he had thought he was.

When it ended, Loki patted him on the shoulder in sympathy and Bucky sent him a smile of gratitude.

“Thank you for that, Tony.” He gritted out, and turned to the others. “Anyone else have anything to share or can we get to work? They all shrugged and shook their heads and Bucky sighed. 

“Good. Could I get the script for the segments please?” He directed his question to an intern, who handed it over with an apologetic smile, and Bucky thanked her. He flicked through it absently, reading the titles of the segments and smiling. 

He took a long sip from his coffee and turned the page, before promptly spitting it out all over himself and the paper in front of him.

“What is this?” He asked Tony, who’s grin had grown tenfold in the last minute. 

“I don’t know what you mean, it’s just next week’s script. Or, it was, before you did your little spit-take all over it.” A glance around showed the production assistants, led by Maria, stifling laughs behind their hands, while Pepper and Loki sat with carefully still expressions on their faces. The script writer, Peter Quill, was bent over double with laughter. 

“Your face, man! Oh my God!” He took out his phone and snapped a picture of Bucky, before falling back into peals of laughter. Bucky looked back down at the so-called script.

_ Welcome to the Sewing Bee semi-final! This week, we’re going to drown ourselves in a forest of pine once again, as I try and fail to pay attention to any contestants other than the love of my life, with the face of an angel — Steven Grant Rogers. Speaking of whom — Steve, my darling, would you please do me the honor of— _

Thankfully, the page was unreadable beyond that point, and Bucky looked up, face stern. He could play along with teasing to a certain extent, but this was just taking a step too far. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know where Quill had gone with the rest of the script.

“Okay, very funny. I get it, I’ve been pining over him for five weeks, it’s insufferable, blah blah blah. Can we please get some work done? Where’s the real script?” The laughter died down, and Bucky accepted a tissue from Pepper to wipe himself down. Once he had made himself somewhat presentable again, the intern from earlier approached him again, handing over the real script. This time her apologetic smile made a little more sense, but Bucky gave her a smile to show he didn’t hold it against her.

They read through the segments without further incident. He had to admit, they were well-written and well-researched. The vintage weeks were always his favourite to film, as they looked into fashion history and the reasons behind certain styles.

Previous seasons had seen Bucky in 1970's punk attire, 1990's grunge and even a suit straight from the 1910's. He had harboured a secret hatred for the clothes they had put him in for 1980's week the previous year — acid-wash jeans and the most luridly patterned short sleeved shirt he had ever seen. He had been one bad moustache away from looking like an off-brand Tom Selleck. Of course, he found it difficult to resent the shirt after seeing how good it looked on Steve, but he had felt like a complete clown at the time.

From the look of things, for the 1940's this season, he would be representing the idealistic young soldier, in full military dress uniform. Pepper would be dressed in work clothes, complete with a Rosie-the-riveter style headscarf, while Loki was given the post-war look. It was an ambitious combination, and Bucky gave an impressed nod to the design crew.

He went back to the wardrobe room after the read through to get into costume, and was greeted by Darcy.

“How was the script?” A single look at her expression told him she was fully aware of what had happened. 

“I hate you.” He deadpanned, accepting the proffered costume back and leaving to get changed, her loud laughter following him out of the room and down to his own dressing room. 

He put on the uniform, and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked good. The in-costume segment went by pretty quickly, A quick skit in character, followed by a scripted discussion with the fashion historian they had hired new for this season.

“So in the first half of the decade, everything was of course impacted by wartime rationing, and that included the fashion. For women, it meant they were working in factories, so pants, overalls and headscarves became more and more commonplace. It also meant that more luxurious garments like stockings were impractical, since silk reserves were needed for parachutes. As well as that, mending clothes and re-purposing fabric you already had, rather than buying new, came to be seen as a patriotic duty.” Bucky nodded at Jane’s explanation, and asked the prompted question.

“I assume the majority of men were dressed a lot like I am most of the time?” She nodded.

“Yes, most men were in the army, so they dressed in their issued uniform. Yours is the dress uniform, so they probably wouldn’t wear it on a regular basis, but that was definitely part of it.” She proceeded to explain the fashions for civilian men, and for children. They briefly touched on the post-war fashions in the second half of the decade, before wrapping up the segment.

Bucky shook Jane’s hand and thanked her, before going to get changed and grab a bite to eat in his short break. He was back to work after only about fifteen minutes, filming some conversations with the judges which would be scattered through the episode.

“So this is their first time fitting menswear in the made-to-measure, do you think that will be a challenge for the contestants?” He asked, and Loki smirked. 

“This is the semi-final. They should be perfectly capable of fitting men’s clothing if they expect to remain until the final next week.” Pepper nodded in agreement, but added on.

“That being said, the challenge  _ is  _ difficult. It’s the first time they are encountering tailoring in this competition, so I am interested to see who struggles with that. It’s a key skill which hasn’t been tested yet.” Bucky nodded, and continued the conversation.

He thought back to the tailored waistcoat Steve had been wearing the first time they met, and felt a niggling sense of pride, knowing that he would hopefully not struggle with that aspect. The rest of the day passed in a rush, and before he knew it, Bucky was on his way home, ready to shower away the lingering stale coffee scent which had lingered on his skin all day. 

He went to bed early, a smile teasing his lips. He had one more day of production before his day off on Friday. Two more days until the semi-final of the competition officially began. Two more days until he saw Steve again. He turned and buried his face in the pillow.

God, he was such a sap. He had hardly spent any time with the man off-camera, and yet here he was counting down the days till he saw him again. He found himself wondering whether he could justify offering a ride home again this week. Steve might not accept — he had very nearly refused the first time, until Bucky had pulled out the puppy dog eyes, and he didn’t want to force Steve into anything. 

He knew Steve was attracted to him, there was no questioning the lust in his eyes in the car that night, but there was no way to know if it was just a passing flirtation for the other man,, or if he was genuinely interested. Bucky hardly dared imagine.

He drifted off to sleep to thoughts of what might happen on another car ride, and had to take a cold shower the following morning to avoid turning up late for filming of the remaining segments. 

The semi-final couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for the semi-final in the next chapter! It's going to be a good one, and one of the scenes will be the one which inspired this entire fic, so I can't wait to share it! <3


	7. Week 5 - 1940s week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Jen/ [RansomDrysdale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ransomdrysdale), you commented a few chapters back you'd like to be included in the tweets, hope you like your little cameo here!  
> Enjoy the chapter, I had a lot of fun with this one

Steve spent most of his week working through his made-to-measure pattern, when he wasn’t frantically researching other aspects of 1940’s fashion and home sewing. He was very glad that he had decided against taking on any new commissions for the month, because he knew he would be overwhelmed by the amount of work he had to do. Bruce came over at least once a day to make sure he ate, but Steve was determined to prove the judges right in allowing him to stay in the competition.

By the time Friday rolled around, he was fairly certain he knew all there was to know about clothes and fashion in the 1940’s; both on and off the war front. He had downloaded multiple free patterns to practice period silhouettes, had sketched out dozens of patterns based on his theories for transformation challenges, and had even watched previous seasons of the show to try and predict what they would throw at him.

Bruce said he was being obsessive. Steve argued he was just being prepared. He woke up early on Saturday and was relieved to see the weather outside was clear and dry, so at least there wouldn’t be a repeat of the previous week’s disaster of a commute. Bruce had offered him a ride, providing he didn’t mind arriving early. Steve dressed carefully, unable to help glancing off at his wardrobe, where Bucky’s shirt hung. His own clothes had been returned to him, freshly laundered and pressed, but the attached note had said nothing about how he should return the borrowed items.

He could worry about that later, he figured, as he gathered up what he would need for the first two tasks, and ate a quick breakfast before heading out to meet Bruce. Steve spent most of the drive rambling to Bruce about fabric rationing and silk parachute scraps. It was only when Bruce hummed blandly for the fourth time that Steve realised he might not actually be that interested. He timidly asked his neighbour about his own plans for the day and allowed the incomprehensible lab talk to soothe his thoughts for the rest of the drive. By the time they arrived at the studio, Steve felt much calmer, but no less prepared. 

Bruce pulled up right at the door, the early hour meaning traffic was light and there was hardly anyone else around. One other car lingered just ahead of them and someone got out just as Steve leaned in the window to thank Bruce for all of his support. He promised to make him dinner during the week in exchange for all the meals Bruce had provided to him.

“Steve, if you think for one second you’ll be less busy next week, before the  _ grand final _ , you’re kidding yourself. You can cook for me when this is all over, and I will hold you to that.” Steve laughed, but he accepted the offer and waved him off, before turning to walk in the front door. To his surprise, Bucky was there, holding the door for him. His hair was loose and curled slightly, and Steve thought it was probably the cutest thing he had ever seen.

“Fancy seeing you here this early. Usually it’s just us crew who arrive before eight.” Steve shrugged and walked in ahead of him to avoid staring for too long.

“Yeah, I managed to scrounge up a ride today, figured getting here early is preferable to the mess I found myself in last week.” He glanced back at Bucky, who had turned slightly pink. He ran his hand through those soft, fluffy curls in what seemed like a nervous gesture. Steve preened internally and stopped at the desk to sign himself in, a distant part of his mind wishing he could mimic the gesture with his own fingers, to feel how soft the strands would be and to see Bucky’s answering flush up close.

“Glad to hear that; I don’t have many other shirts here for you.” It was Steve’s turn to flush at that, but Bucky didn’t allow the comment to linger for too long, as he continued, “So it’s a good thing you could manage to negotiate a ride from your… uh…” Bucky trailed off as Steve finished up at the desk and stood aside to allow Bucky to do the same.

“My neighbor.” He finished Bucky’s sentence for him. He knew he wasn’t imagining the smile which spread across Bucky’s face at the words, and the way his posture seemed to relax. Steve waited while Bucky finished signing in, and then walked with him up to the contestant’s area. Bucky gestured down the hall to the room where Steve had gotten his clothes the previous week, and Steve nodded.

“I’ll see you later,” He offered, and Bucky nodded.

“Good luck, Steve.” He said, before giving a sharp nod and turning on his heel to walk away. Steve watched him as he walked, unable to help himself from dragging his eyes over the long, lean lines of his body, before shaking himself and going into the contestant’s room. He read over some of his notes from the patterns he had tried, and resolutely did not imagine running his hands over Bucky’s back, and up into his hair to scratch at his scalp.

It was almost an hour before anyone else showed up, Shuri practically skipping into the room and bidding him a cheery hello as she sat down, scrolling through her phone. 

“How are you feeling about this week?” He asked her, and she shrugged. 

“There’s really only so much they can ask, assuming they will be sticking with western styles and silhouettes.” They discussed the different possible tasks the judges could throw at them until Natasha arrived shortly afterwards. By the time Sam showed up, they had progressed to simply discussing how it felt to have made it this far in the competition.

“I told my brother it didn’t feel real this morning when I was getting ready to leave, and he pinched me in the arm. It’s real.” Shuri commented drily, and Sam burst into laughter. Steve and Natasha shared a slightly concerned look, neither of them having siblings and therefore not entirely sure whether this was normal behaviour or something to be concerned about.

“I noticed you were early this morning, according to the sign in sheet.” She commented quietly in Steve’s direction, while Sam and Shuri began discussing increasingly annoying things about their siblings.

“Yeah, Bruce gave me a ride on his way to the lab, I didn’t want to get caught in the rain or spill coffee on myself again.” Natasha hummed and turned back to the main conversation just as the door opened and an intern was calling the four of them into the sewing room, which suddenly felt very empty, with only four tables set up. The tables which held the sewing machines had been left covered by a large drape, and the sight was more than a little nerve-wracking. 

“Welcome to the semi-final of this year’s Sewing Bee!” Bucky was saying from the front of the room, as the cameras started to roll. Steve noticed the hosts were all styled with a subtle nod towards the theme. Pepper had her hair styled into victory rolls, while Loki had his slicked back, with a wide brimmed hat perched on top. Bucky’s hair had more product than usual, but Steve’s eyes went directly to the pair of suspenders he was wearing. Unbidden, Steve’s brain conjured up an image of grabbing hold of them and pulling Bucky flush against him.

Steve missed the rest of Bucky’s introduction, as he struggled to stop his mind from wandering any further.

“We have a classic 1940’s garment here for you, from the homefront of the war,” Pepper explained and Steve exchanged a look with Shuri, who raised an eyebrow at him, as much as to say  _ I told you so. _ Steve forced down a snort of laughter as Pepper started handing out the patterns.

It was a basic pattern, a pair of wide-leg women’s work pants with a belted waist. Not a beginner’s pattern by any means, but definitely not what Steve had imagined from the semi final. He flicked through it, looking for the catch. The others seemed to be in a similar state of confusion, until Loki piped up.

“The pattern may be easy to follow, we will expect these garments to be made to an impeccably high standard. There is, of course, a slightly heightened level of difficulty, which you will recognise once you uncover your sewing machine.” He had a sly grin on his face, and Steve felt a weight settle in his stomach. He reached out and pulled the cover off the machine, groaning when he saw what had been hidden.

Gone was the simple to use, familiar modern machine, replaced with what looked like an authentic vintage sewing machine, built into a solid looking wooden table, with a wrought iron foot paddle and a hand crank to the side. It was a Singer machine _ , _ the brand name painted in elegant golden letters on the side in contrast with the black curves of the machine. If he hadn’t been faced with the prospect of figuring out how to use this in less than an hour, Steve would be admiring the artistry in the design.

As it was, he was exchanging a dumbstruck look with Sam and attempting to wrap his head around how to make it work, when Bucky announced their time was starting. Steve took a deep breath and went to pick out a fabric, choosing a simple blue cotton which would be easy to work with to make this challenge less painful. 

He could do this. He had actually watched a couple of Youtube videos about vintage machines during his research. Even a few of the same brand. This would be fine.

The machine had been threaded for them in advance, so Steve took a moment to examine the way it was set up in case the thread broke and he needed to re-thread it, then ran a scrap of fabric through the machine to test the tension. It was surprisingly simple to use, the foot paddle well-oiled and the machine running smoothly. It took a few tries to get the rhythm of pumping his foot and feeding in the fabric, but once he had, he stood in satisfaction and started to focus on cutting out his pattern pieces.

There was a low level of chatter as Steve and the other contestants checked in on their progress, comparing tips and tricks for using the machine and negotiating the pattern. Steve glanced up when he heard a delightful burst of laughter from across the room, and saw Bucky with Shuri, face soft in laughter as she told him about taking apart an old sewing machine when she was six years old before her mother had found her, and putting it back together all on her own. 

“Did it still work?” He heard Bucky ask, and Shuri gave a melodramatic gasp of offence.

“Did it work?” She scoffed. “I  _ improved _ that machine, it never worked  _ better!” _ Bucky laughed again and gave her a high five before moving on to Sam. Steve went back to work, pinning his fabric pieces together and starting the machine again.

He fed the first section into the machine and pumped his foot carefully, sewing a neat line along the pinned edge and being careful not to catch a pin in the machine for fear of having to change out the needle or do damage to the machine somehow.

“Shit!” he heard from across the room, and he paused his sewing to look over at Sam. Bucky had moved on to speak with Natasha while Steve was busy, and Sam now stood in front of the machine, looking somewhat shocked. Steve hastened over to see what was wrong.

“The thread broke, and I have no idea how to thread this machine. I’m so fucked, Steve.” Steve took in the look of dismay on his face, and smiled reassuringly. 

“It’s fine, I got this!” Steve said, taking the thread and making sure the rest of the mechanism was fine, before recreating the way he had seen his own machine had been threaded. The model was slightly different, so it took more than one try, but they managed to figure it out between the two of them. Steve rushed back to his own workspace, glancing at the time with a wince.

Bucky had been lingering on the edge while Steve had helped Sam, clearly wanting to help but not wanting to risk being in the way. Steve smiled at him as he re-positioned his fabric, and was rewarded by Bucky’s soft half smile. He made his way over to Steve’s worktable, and leaned against it.

“You seem to have a cool head on your shoulders this week, Rogers,” He commented, gesturing to the old machine. Steve shrugged, giving him a funny glance for the phrasing, but shrugging it off.

“I sort of fell down a research wormhole this week. Did you know there’s an entire section of Youtube dedicated to vintage sewing techniques and people refurbishing old machinery?” Bucky hummed with interest and they were silent for a moment save for the rhythmic clicking of the foot pedal and the whirring of the gears.

“Well, it’s paid off, that coulda’ been some bad business there with Wilson, but you didn’t choke, you stepped up and helped him out.” Steve shrugged and finished his line of sewing, beginning to see what Bucky was doing. He decided to play along, checking the stitches before moving on to the next segment of the pattern.

“I suppose you’re right. I just figured since last week I almost went belly-up I should try to make the most of my time this week, milk it for all it’s worth, you know? No point bustin’ my chops to stay in if I don’t at least come out the other side with some good memories.” Bucky gave him an impressed look, and Steve found himself wracking his brain for any more old fashioned slang he had come across in his reading during the week.

“You got moxie, kid, I’ll give you that.” Steve raised an eyebrow at the use of the word  _ kid,  _ and Bucky raised his hands in surrender. Steve snorted.

“Alright, buddy, why don’t you go flap your chops at some other sucker, let me get to work if you’re just gonna give me grief?” Bucky seemed a little disappointed at the dismissal, but Steve was beginning to get distracted and couldn’t keep this up for much longer. He smiled and winked to show he wasn’t actually bothered by the intrusion, and Bucky smiled in relief.

“Alright, dollface, I’ll go. Wouldn’t want you to blow a fuse at me. See ya around.” Steve’s brain short-circuited at the pet name, and the little salute Bucky shot at him as he turned away only made it worse.

Steve gaped after him for almost a full minute before he pulled himself back together enough to get back to his work.

Bucky announced there were ten minutes remaining while Steve was finishing up the main portion of the pants, and he swore. He hadn’t even started assembling the belted waist, and he hastily pinned it together and fed it into the machine. His foot pumped the treadle faster than before, humming frantically to himself to keep the time as he worked through the steps of sewing the right sides of the fabric together, then flipping the whole thing so the seams were on the inside and top stitching the whole thing to make it neater. He attached it to the pants, adding the finishing touches and pressing the whole garment with the iron. He managed to slip it onto the mannequin just as the time ran out for the task, and he stood back in relief. 

Steve was proud of what he had managed to pull off in the short time of the task. The pants were well fitted on the mannequin and his lines were clean and crisp. 

He looked around at the other three garments, seeing that they had all made similar choices in fabric. The main difference was in colour, though they had all gone the traditional route. Sam had gone for a similar blue denim to Steve’s, while Shuri’s was an olive green shade reminiscent of military uniforms. Natasha’s was the most daring, though the white was still not completely unheard of for the type of garment in question.

Steve felt they had all done a pretty good job of the task, though of course the judges found something to criticise in each of them. Sam had apparently not adjusted the tension in the machine enough, while Shuri’s belt hoops weren’t perfectly symmetrical. Natasha had only given her pants a perfunctory press, while Steve’s waistband felt a little rushed. 

“Overall, we are very pleased with how you all managed this task. It’s going to be difficult to rank these.” Pepper complimented them, and Loki hummed in agreement. They went to the side to confer for a moment while the contestants stood together.

"Dollface?” Sam whispered into Steve’s ear. Steve flushed beetroot and pressed his foot down on top of Sam’s in retaliation just as the judges returned. Shuri was in the lead, but Steve had managed to secure second place. Natasha was a close third, while Sam came last.

They filtered out of the room for lunch, chattering about the task.

“It was a bit gimmicky, don’t you think?” Steve commented, making a face before taking a sip of his coffee.Sam hummed in agreement.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for you and your weirdly obsessive research, I would have been a laughing stock.” Sam agreed with him, before adding, “I mean I still lost, but at least I still have my ego intact.” 

“Unlike me last week, you mean?” Steve asked with a sly expression, and Sam laughed.

“Hey, you said it man, not me! And you’re still here, so I can joke about it.” Steve laughed along with him before joining the others in their speculation over the transformation challenge. They had a lot more time to talk, considering there were only four of them to be interviewed. Natasha was called first, and the others continued their discussion while she was away.

“I’m telling you, it’s gonna be parachute silk!” Shuri argued, and Steve hummed in consideration.

“We’ve already done silk, though. It’ll be something we haven’t been tested on yet, like wool or heavier industrial fabric.” Sam gave them an incredulous look, commenting that he was fine as long as they weren’t told to sew with the old machine again.

By the time Steve was called for his interview with Maria, they were debating the ways the old machine compared to the modern ones. Steve silently wondered how much a similar model would cost. Maybe he’d save up and treat himself to one someday — it really had been a joy to work with once he had gotten used to it.

He said as much in the interview, before talking about how he planned to do better this week, and how he felt at having made it to the semi-final.

“I know I talked some big talk at the start of this competition, but I don’t think I ever actually expected to make it this far. I really am just trying to enjoy myself, not to get too bogged down by the pressure. If I get through, that would be amazing, but I really do feel lucky to be here still.

“Still though, you know me. I never back down from a challenge, so i’m not going out without a fight. I’ll just do my best to enjoy the fight while I'm in it.” Maria laughed at that, and Steve grinned in response. 

The interview wrapped up, and he went back out to the courtyard while Sam, and then Shuri were called in for their interviews one by one.

"Do you ever think about what people are going to think of us once the show starts to air?" Steve found himself asking Natasha at one point. She shrugged and looked thoughtful.

"I didn't, honestly. I am now though, so thanks for that." Steve snorted and apologised.

"I was so conscious of it in the beginning," he mused, "especially doing interviews and stuff, but I forgot about it for a while. It'll be weird to sit at home watching ourselves on TV, right? Seeing people react to things we're doing now, in six months time."

"Yeah, when you put it like that, it is weird. We should all get together and watch it as a group, like a support system," Sam suggested, and Steve beamed. The casual way he referenced still being friends, hanging out months down the line made him almost as happy as he had been when he got through to the semi-final. He'd never exactly been flush with friends, but he was glad that this experience had brought him Sam and Natasha, as well as all the others.

It turned out that Steve’s prediction for the transformation challenge was more accurate, as they went into the sewing room to find racks of woolen garments — a combination of knit, tweed and other fabrics made from wool. Bucky welcomed them all back, and Pepper stepped up to introduce the task.

“The fashion of the home front in the 1940's was heavily influenced by the fabric rationing due to the war. This meant that people couldn’t just throw out clothes which were worn out or damaged.  _ Make do and mend _ was the slogan of the time.”

“So we have here some damaged garments, all appropriate for the era. Some have been ripped, some may be stained or worn thin in places.” Loki took over the introduction. “We want you to take one of these, and make them into something suitable for a child to wear.” Steve’s eyes darted back to the garment rack, running through ideas in his mind.

“The haberdashery will not be available to you for this task, but you are welcome to salvage any accessories you need from the remaining garments. There will, however, be consideration given to the sewist who leaves the smallest amount of waste from their garment.” Pepper finished the briefing, then her and Loki left the room.

Bucky gave the signal to start, and the four contestants rushed to the racks to grab the garments they would need. Steve stuck with tweed, grabbing a pair of pants with a large hole in the left knee and fraying on the hem.

He started by picking apart the seams to lay the fabric flat. He started to sketch out a pattern using chalk directly onto the fabric. 

Though Bucky was walking between the four contestants as usual, the conversation was not focused one-on-one the way it had been before. Everyone talked over one another and discussed what they were making. By the time Steve had finished cutting the pieces for the tiny waistcoat he had decided to make, he had heard all about what the others were making. 

Around the halfway point of the challenge, since he didn’t need to move around as much given the nature of the conversation, Bucky settled himself against the wall behind where Steve was working. Steve felt his presence and occasionally glanced over his shoulder to catch Bucky’s eyes lingering on him.

“Do you think I could use this extra fabric for something?” he asked the room at large, holding up a strip from the original waistband which had been left over. Shuri looked up and quirked her head to the side. 

“A bow, maybe?” She suggested, and Steve grinned. 

“You’re a genius, Shuri!” He went back to work, leaving the fabric to one side and getting back to work.

“How is your skirt coming along? Natasha asked Sam, and he held up the garment to show how he was progressing. It looked good, from what Steve could see. He was using a lighter wool than Steve, and the skirt seemed to have a bounce to it. Shuri was working with a tweed as well, though she was making a pinafore-style dress, while Natasha was transforming an old woolen skirt which had been ripped along the side into a pair of boys’ trousers.

Steve finished putting the waistcoat together, before beginning to salvage the buttons from a jacket to put them on the new garment. He had managed to cut it so that the old buttonholes were incorporated for use on the child’s garment, but there had been a tear around where the buttons were originally which meant he had needed to cut them very carefully.

He could sew buttons on with his eyes closed once he had the correct positions marked, so he sat down and set to work on that while talking to the others. 

“You look pretty relaxed,”Bucky commented, still right behind him, and Steve tipped his head back to look at him. Bucky stood and walked over so Steve was looking directly up at him. Steve gulped and turned back to his buttons.

“Should I not be?” He asked, feigning cool. 

“I didn’t say that. Just pointing out a fact.” Steve shrugged. Bucky stayed where he was, watching over Steve’s shoulder until the last of the buttons were in place. He managed to only prick his finger once under the intensity of Bucky’s gaze, and played it off without incident.

When the time was up, and the judges returned, Steve stood proudly behind his finished garment. Along with the waistcoat, he had fashioned a small bow tie out of the leftover fabric, which the judges cooed over. The others had also tried to add elements to their pieces with their leftover fabric. Natasha had made suspenders for the trousers, while Shuri’s pinafore was shown with a matching hairpiece made of scraps wound around each other and attached to a headband.

“In fourth place, we have these cute little pants,” Pepper began the judging. “They’re very well made, but just fell a little behind the other submissions I’m afraid.” Natasha nodded minutely, though her expression didn’t falter.

“Next up is this wraparound skirt.” Loki added. “Again, very well made, although you could have made better use of the elements of the original in your piece.” Sam let out a heavy breath, and exchanged a tight smile with Natasha.

Shuri came second, and the judges praised the design of her pinafore as not only looking cute, but also being very reminiscent of the 1940s, and staying on-theme. All of which meant-

“In first place, we have this delightful tweed waistcoat.” Loki announced.

“You have made good use of the original garment, and you have fitted it perfectly to the mannequin. I wouldn’t have known it was originally anything other than what it is now, which is a high compliment indeed.” Pepper explained, and Steve couldn’t fight the smile which spread across his face.

He practically skipped out of the room once they had been dismissed, and lingered behind rather than leaving quickly as he had the previous week.

“How are you feeling about tomorrow?” Shuri asked the group and Sam shrugged, answering first. 

“I don’t know, I was looking forward to menswear, but based on my bad job today…” he trailed off, and Natasha flicked him in the ear, causing him to swear and look at her in irritation. “What was that for?” He asked, and she leveled him with a look.

“We both did exactly the same today, idiot. One last place, one third. There’s no way to know which of us could go.” Steve felt the need to add to her point, so he interjected.

“Besides, neither of you actually made anything  _ bad _ ; it would have made the top four any other week. Shuri and I could both still have a bad day tomorrow and wind up going home instead.” Sam looked mollified, but now it was Steve’s turn to be flicked on the ear, this time by Shuri.

“Speak for yourself, I’ve never had a  _ bad day _ in my life.”Natasha laughed, and high-fived her. 

The four of them left in a group, Shuri meeting up with her brother in the foyer as usual. When the remaining three emerged onto the street, Steve noticed a familiar car idling by the sidewalk, and a familiar figure leaning against it. Sam and Natasha were flanking Steve, so he didn’t wave or do anything to draw any attention to himself as they walked in the direction of the car.

Bucky noticed him anyway, and grinned as they approached, before seeming to notice the other two.

“Would you guys, uh, like a ride?” Bucky smiled sheepishly at Steve as Sam and Natasha exchanged a look over his head.

“Sure, why not?” Natasha decided, just as Sam loudly called for shotgun. Steve snorted.

“Guess that’s a yes.” Bucky gestured to the car, and Sam happily got in the front, introducing himself to the driver, who looked disgruntled at what was likely to be a longer drive than planned, with four times as many stops as he was hired for. Natasha climbed in the back seat and Steve got in after her, followed by Bucky. 

Sam pushed his seat back, and Bucky winced when it hit his knees. Steve snorted, and Bucky looked over at him with a grin.

“So, where to first?” They drove along, in mostly silence as Steve tried not to think about how the fact there were three of them in the back seat meant that he was pressed shoulder to thigh against Bucky. Of course the same was true for his other side, pressed against Natasha, but that contact somehow didn’t feel quite so electric.

Natasha lived the closest, so she got dropped off first. When she got out, Steve slid over to the other side, but Bucky followed him, maintaining the contact while looking directly ahead. Steve made eye contact with Sam in the rear-view mirror, and flushed at the shit eating grin on his friend’s face, even as Bucky mumbled an excuse about not being able to feel his knees because of Sam’s chair pressing against them.

Steve was next to be dropped off, and he exchanged a small smile with Bucky as he got out of the car, feeling reluctant to leave his side but not wanting to make a big deal out of it in front of Sam.

“See you tomorrow!” He called out, and was met with matching replies from the other two. He thanked the driver, and then Bucky, before closing the car door. Sam said something to Bucky which Steve couldn’t hear as the car pulled away, and he had the unshakable feeling that he should not have left the two of them alone in a car together.

Sam gave him a look when he walked into the contestant’s room the next morning, but he refused to say anything about what he and Bucky had discussed in the car the previous night. He just hummed smugly and tapped the side of his nose before turning to check his pattern for the made-to-measure challenge, a smirk on his face.

Steve stood directly in front of him, arms crossed stubbornly in an attempt to intimidate an answer out of him, but Sam was resolute. Shuri looked slightly amused when she walked in to see them like that, but Natasha just shook her head, telling her to leave them to it.

Sam didn’t glance up until he was called out for his interview, at which point he acted surprised to see Steve in front of him.

“Hey Steve! How’s your morning going?” Steve grumbled as Sam strolled smugly out of the room. Shuri snorted with laughter, and Natasha’s face was suspiciously neutral when he looked over at her.

He sat down with a huff and started looking over his own pattern. He had had such a good day yesterday, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was bound to be something to throw a spanner in the works this time around.

Sam clapped him on the shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear as they crossed each other in the corridor when Steve went to his own interview.

“All I’ll say is, your boy’s got it bad.” Steve narrowed his eyes at Sam, who just walked away whistling with an expression which told Steve he knew exactly how much more curious he was at the statement.

He talked to Maria about using the vintage sewing machine and how his mom had often repurposed old and worn clothes for him while he was growing up.

“And how are you feeling about working on a garment to fit a male model today?” Steve smiled.

“Well, most of what I make is for myself, so menswear is where I’m most comfortable, really.” Maria nodded, but Steve could see she was hoping for more, so he continued. “I love working with Peggy though, so I hope he’s as good to work with as she is.” Steve thought he heard a faint shout from somewhere in the building, but he dismissed it in favour of continuing to talk about his hopes for the upcoming challenge.

As he made his way back, he noticed several interns looking harried, running along the corridors and whispering to each other. Steve wondered if this was normal for the semi-final, or if something had happened.

Shuri had left for her interview, but Steve saw that Sam and Natasha were whispering to each other when he got in. 

“Did you hear what went down out there?” Sam asked, and Steve frowned.

“No, I thought I heard a shout, but I couldn’t make anything out.” Natasha patted the seat next to her and Steve sat down while she filled him in.

“One of the models showed up drunk. Got mouthy. Head of the studio had to come down to them, and they almost got in a fist fight.” Steve’s eyes bugged.

“So what’s the deal with the task?” They both shook their heads.

“Not a clue, some intern told us to stay put, but then another said we should carry on as normal.” Sam explained. 

Steve swore, raising his eyebrows incredulously. 

“Just when I thought it was getting boring around here,” he joked, and they fell into silence, looking through their patterns and sharing the odd comment about how they were planning on working through them. Shuri came back after a few minutes, but she hadn’t heard any more news of what was happening, so Natasha promised to keep an eye out on her way to her own interview.

They had news before she got back, though, as an intern came in while she was gone with an update.

“We’re running a little late, but we’ve found a — we have someone to fill in for the extra model. We’ll be good to go in about an hour, alright?” Steve opened his mouth to ask a follow up question, but they were gone, rushing off to put out another fire, no doubt.

“I’m gonna run out for some air,” Steve announced. He had looked over his pattern about as much as he could face, and he felt himself beginning to go cross-eyed. Sam and Shuri waved him off, and he decided to go in the direction of the courtyard where they usually ate lunch together.

On his way, he passed another large group of interns and overheard a few words of their conversation before they spotted him and fell collectively silent.

“Do you think he’s gonna be put with — ” Steve kept walking and heard a nervous laugh from somewhere in the group before they turned a corner and fell out of earshot.

He only spent a few minutes in the courtyard; it was chilly, and he felt his mind itching to get back to work, even though he had wanted nothing more than to take a break just moments before. He sighed and headed back in, stopping off for a coffee on the way. On a whim, he walked by Darcy’s door on his way back from the cafeteria, and heard a familiar voice from inside.

“I’m gonna die, Darce. This is how I go. Death by beautiful twink. Tell the lawyers I’m giving everything I own to Becca. Why did they think this would be a good idea?” Bucky sounded like he was genuinely distressed, even if the words were playful. Steve furrowed his brow, and went back to the contestant’s room to wait out the rest of the time before the challenge was due to begin.

Finally, they were called into the sewing room, and Steve sat down at his usual spot. They waited there another few minutes before the cameras started rolling and the models walked in, followed by Bucky and the judges. Steve frowned. There were only three models. 

He exchanged a confused look with the others, but then Natasha’s eyes widened and she let out a laugh. Steve frowned at her, but then he saw what she had noticed. Bucky wasn’t dressed the way he had been the previous day. Gone was the button down shirt and suspenders of yesterday, replaced by a plain black tee and a pair of soft looking pants. 

Exactly the same thing as the other models.

Steve swallowed thickly, and he knew exactly what was about to happen. Sure enough, when the  _ four _ models went to join their contestants, Bucky made a beeline directly to Steve, followed by the majority of the cameras.

He gave a cheeky grin, before nonchalantly sitting next to Steve and waiting for the judges to introduce the task. 

Steve knew his own face must be quite the sight to behold, but he was too shocked to really do much about it. The cameras lingered on him for almost a fill minute, until Pepper stepped up and started to introduce the task. Bucky leaned into his space, causing Steve to jump.

“Pay attention,” he whispered with a smirk, and Steve flushed, suppressing a shiver as he turned to listen to Pepper.

“Alright, as you can see, we have a bit of a surprise with our models today, due to unforeseen circumstances. But that doesn’t mean the judging will operate any differently, as Bucky has no input to the judging. However, it does mean that Loki and I will be circulating more than we have previously, to talk to you about your progress.”

“Exactly,” Loki continued. “Now, for your task. As you know, this is a menswear challenge. Your task is to make a coat to fit your model perfectly. It should sit perfectly across his shoulders, as well as allowing movement in the arms without being restrictive. You will need to take measurements very carefully in order to make the cut today.”

“You have five hours, your time starts now!” Pepper announced, and Bucky huffed from beside Steve.

“That’s my line,” He grumbled, surprising a laugh out of Steve.

Steve braced himself and stood up, turning to Bucky.

“Let’s do this, I guess.” He picked up a measuring tape and saw Bucky smile somewhat nervously.

“Just tell me how you want me, I guess.” He turned red when he realised what he said, but then smirked when Steve raised an eyebrow in response.

“Turn around, I want to get your shoulder measurements first.” Bucky did as he was told, and Steve tried not to think about how he had fantasised about touching Bucky exactly like this only the previous day.

As it turns out, there was a lot of casual touch involved with measure someone for a coat. It started with shoulders, then he had to measure each of Bucky’s arms, which he couldn’t help but notice were quite a bit larger than his own.

“Quit flexing, you’ll mess up the numbers.” Steve heard Natasha snort from somewhere behind him, and Bucky flushed again. Steve continued to measure the length of bucky’s torso - from the back of his neck, then from his underarms. Bucky squirmed when Steve held the measuring tape under his arm, and it sparked a laugh from Steve.

“Ticklish?” 

“A little.”

Steve tried not to focus on how close his hands were drifting to Bucky’s ass. This had never been an issue with Peggy, just casual touches, nothing but friendly professionalism. With Bucky, every point of contact was charged. When Steve reached to pass the measuring tape around Bucky’s waist, he couldn’t help but think of how easy it would be to pull him in so they were flush against each other and — . 

He stopped himself short at the thought and jotted down the measurement. From the way Bucky’s eyes followed him, Steve had a feeling he wasn’t the only one affected.

“I think this is enough for now, you can, um… sit for a while. Relax.” Bucky just nodded and did as he was told, and Steve turned back to plug the measurements into the pattern he had spent so much time planning.

He set to work, losing himself in the laying out of fabric, cutting and labeling each piece before turning to the mannequin.

“So what is it you’re making for me?” Bucky asked, once Steve had finished the complicated redrafting of the pattern according to Bucky’s measurements.

“Oh! I was looking up a few different types of coats, but in the end I decided to go with a dark blue pea-coat. It’s appropriate for the ‘40's, but there’s also a timelessness to it, you know? Bucky hummed and walked over to lean against the table and watch Steve working.

“Quit distracting me, Barnes.” Steve waved a hand in Bucky’s direction impatiently, while pinning together the first two panels.

“Oh, so I’m distracting, am I?” Bucky quipped, and Steve just looked up at him, flicked his eyes to the casual way his hip was resting against the table, toned arms folded across his broad chest, then raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not fooling anyone with that innocent act, you know damn well how distracting you can be.” Bucky grinned at the admission, but went back to his chair, hands raised in concession to Steve’s point.

“Whatever, there’s a better view from here anyway.” He was sitting directly behind where Steve was leaning over the worktable, and when Steve looked over his shoulder, Bucky looked the picture of innocence before instructing Steve to go back to work.

Steve laughed and set to it, working the heavy wool through the — thankfully, modern — sewing machine.

By the time he had the first two sections sewn together , Pepper and Loki had made their way over to him.

“In the naughty chair, Bucky?” Loki quipped, and Bucky just shrugged.

“I’m distracting.” Bucky's tone was that of someone who had just been told he had won a prize. Pepper shook her head, but she was wearing a fond smile. 

“Tell me about your garment, Steve.” Steve explained the pattern, and the wool he had chosen. He showed them a picture he had sourced of an authentic pea-coat from the 1940's, which he had painstakingly copied his pattern from, cross referencing it with modern patterns to make something both functional and attractive.

“It sounds promising, I have to say. Be sure you pay attention to the clock, it seems you are a little behind schedule.”

“Like he said. Distracting.” Steve gestured at Bucky. Loki snorted at that before they carried on, and Steve went back to sewing.

By the final hour of the challenge, Steve had the main portion of the coat finished.

“Could you try this on before I add the lining? I need to make sure there aren’t any tweaks needed.” Bucky took the coat and put it on quickly, the collar sticking up. Steve rolled his eyes and reached out to fix it, hands lingering on the lapel for a moment before he pulled away to inspect the fit.

“It’s good on the shoulders, I think. It doesn’t feel too tight on the arms, right?” Bucky shook his head and raised his arms as if to prove it fit properly. Steve huffed a laugh and continued to check the garment.

“I’ll just pin the hem to make sure it’s level while you have it on. Stand still.” Steve grabbed some pins and knelt down to adjust the hem, only realising his mistake when he glanced up to see bucky looking down at him with wide eyes. Steve coughed and set to work, trying to keep his mind away from other scenarios in which he might kneel in front of Bucky like this.

He finished up, and then stood back up, turning to the pale blue viscose he was using for the lining. Bucky went behind the privacy screen to take off the coat, emerging almost a full minute later, looking bashful. He put the coat back onto the mannequin and resumed his seat. 

By the end of the task, Steve had managed to finish and attach the lining, as well as the large brass buttons. The coat was probably one of the nicest things he had made, and it fit Bucky like a second skin. He had also succeeded in not climbing Bucky like a tree after five hours of close physical contact.

If asked, he wasn’t sure which he would class as the biggest achievement.

The models walked the aisle as usual, and the judges gave their feedback.

Sam and Shuri had both opted for a trench coat. The judges declared them both passable, though Sam’s was a little tight over the shoulders, while Shuri’s panels didn’t match up perfectly. Natasha’s overcoat was also well made, but the judges commented that it hung a little long over the model’s hands.

When Bucky walked up in the pea-coat, Steve felt his heart jump into his throat. He had changed back into his clothes from the previous day, putting the coat over his white shirt and suspenders for the judging.

He waited anxiously while the judges inspected it.

“This is impressive work Steve. It seems to fit perfectly, and the style is very appropriate for the task. There’s a slight puckering here on the collar, but other than that, it’s a perfect garment. Well done.” Steve was gobsmacked at Pepper’s feedback, and burst into a grin at the realisation that he had definitely pulled it off. 

The judges dismissed them while they conferred, and Steve left along with the other contestants. Before they reached the locker room, however, he ducked into the bathroom in order to splash some water on his face.

A giggle escaped his lips as he dried off, and he turned just in time to see the door open, and there was Bucky.

He had taken off the coat, no doubt so the judges could give it a closer inspection as they decided who would be sent home.

The door clicked closed and they stood in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. Steve took a step forward, not sure if he was moving towards Bucky or the door. Bucky took all doubt out of his mind by stepping forward at the same moment, and Steve found himself staring directly into his eyes, which dilated as he watched. 

"You know, Sam's a good friend. He gave me the shovel talk yesterday," Bucky said, slightly breathy.

Steve let out a heavy breath and gave in, doing exactly what he had wanted to do since the previous day and grabbing hold of the suspenders, pulling Bucky in close. Bucky gasped but allowed himself to me manhandled, wrapping his strong arms around Steve's waist. Steve took one hand off the suspenders and reached up to take hold of Bucky’s face and pulled him down to crash their lips together.

Bucky whimpered, and the sound sent shock waves through Steve’s system, removing all rational thought from his brain, replaced with the fizzing desire which had pent up over the last month and a half since they had met.

He stepped forward, pushing Bucky until he was pressed against the wall, kissing him like he had always wanted to, greedy and hungry for more.

Bucky’s lips were the greatest thing he had ever tasted, like the sweetest milkshake and the most decadent dish. Bucky’s hands drifted down to cup his ass, and Steve jerked his hips, feeling Bucky half hard already through his pants. Their lips parted just long enough for Bucky to whisper in his ear,

“Been like this since I had you on your knees in front of me. God, I don’t know how I survived today.” Steve laughed, but it came out as more of a strangled moan as Bucky began kissing and licking at his throat.

He ground his hips against Steve’s and brought their lips back together. Steve brought his hands up to run through Bucky’s hair and they kissed like that for what felt like a lifetime, but then Steve’s brain came back online with a jolt, and he pulled back just enough to catch a breath. Bucky began to mouth at his neck again.

“Wait, Bucky,” Steve gasped out, and Bucky stopped immediately, letting go of Steve and looking at him in concern.

“Fuck, sorry. Are you okay?” he asked, and Steve had to take a deliberate step back to stop himself from surging forward again.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” Steve found himself saying, and the expression on Bucky’s face sent regret surging through his body. Bucky opened his mouth, maybe to ask why, maybe to argue, but Steve rushed to explain anyway.

“There’s one week left, assuming the coat was good enough to keep me in the competition,” He began.

“Of course it’s good enough, Steve. It was fantastic.” Bucky’s voice was rough and Steve had to muster up all of his willpower not to surge back in.

“Right, well if you’re correct, that means I have the final next week. I can’t jeopardise that. I’m sorry.” Bucky looked disappointed, but his lips were forming a smile even as Steve spoke.

“You’re right. Of course you’re right. I don’t want to get in the way of all you’ve worked for.” Steve felt the weight of nerves on his shoulder lift, relieved Bucky understood what he was saying.

“Thanks, Buck.” He looked up at Bucky through his eyelashes, and Bucky bit his lip.

“Okay, if you keep doing that it’s going to be very difficult for me not to get on my knees right now, Steve.” Bucky choked out, and Steve laughed properly this time.

“How about this,” he offered. “Next week. We’re having a party at the restaurant down the road, all the crew and past contestants will be there. Come along, ha g out for a while, and then come back to my place with me?” Bucky nodded eagerly and agreed. Steve nodded, and went to leave the bathroom, knowing his resolve wouldn’t hold much longer. Bucky’s hand reached out and wrapped around his arm, and Steve looked back at him.

“You should probably, uh.. Go see Darcy. You’ve got…” He gestured at his neck and flushed, and Steve turned to look in the bathroom mirror, seeing the bright pink points where Bucky had been kissing him. He flushed and then burst in to laughter.

“Yeah, I guess so. You should fix your hair.” Bucky laughed with him, and let his hand run down Steve’s arm, brushing over his hand before letting go. Steve walked out of the bathroom with a lingering glance back at Bucky, and made his way to Darcy’s door, bracing himself for her teasing.

Back in the sewing room for the results, the others asked him where he had been, and Steve brushed them off. Thankfully, the judges returned soon after, Steve was relieved to avoid their questioning.

“This was a very difficult decision to make, and we are so happy with how far all four of you have come since your first week here.” Pepper began, before stepping up to the mannequin which held the garment of the week.

“After a lot of thought, we were both in agreement that this garment was certainly the most exquisite piece of menswear we have seen on the Sewing Bee thus far.” Loki pulled off the sheet, revealing Steve’s pea-coat. Steve gasped and felt Sam’s arm wrap around his shoulder among whispers of congratulations.

He had won garment of the week. He had  _ finally _ come out on top, no longer scraping through until the next week. Steve beamed and hugged Natasha. And then Bucky stepped forward.

“Unfortunately, someone still needs to go home.” He looked torn, the joy on his face in the bathroom earlier gone. “I’m sad to say that the person leaving the Sewing Bee this week is…” He paused, and Steve pulled Natasha and Sam in closer, feeling Natasha Pulling Shuri into her side too. He braced himself, unable to imagine the sewing room without those three.

“Sam. I’m sorry.” Bucky finished, appearing genuinely upset to say it, and Steve, Natasha and Shuri descended on Sam, draping themselves around him. Sam looked like he was taking it well, but Steve knew him well enough by now to know that this hurt. Sam claimed he was happy just to be there, proud of all he had learned, but there was an edge to his voice which had Steve reluctant to break their hug, even as they left the room to gather their things. 

He kept a comforting arm on Sam’s back all the way to the restaurant, through Sam’s farewell speech. Once Shuri had been collected, he bought Sam enough drinks to assuage his own guilt at making it through without the man who had quickly become one of his best friends.

One week left. 

One week, with the promise of Bucky at the end of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, yeah. THAT happened.  
> Just a few notes on this chapter!  
> I did quite a bit of research on 1940's fashion and vintage sewing machines, but this is fiction ultimately so I did take some liberties with styles and technique. Same goes for when Steve and Bucky are using the old-fashioned slang. I didn't really put any effort into making it believable for the time, they're just goofing off, at the end of the day!
> 
> Feel free to share your own predictions for the final!


	8. Week 6 - Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The illustrations for the previous chapter are on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Nerds_/status/1292566823758639108?s=20)
> 
> *drumroll*  
> Enjoy the final!
> 
> (P.S. take note of the added tags!)

There was a tangible energy in the air when Steve walked into the sewing room on the first morning of the grand finale of Sewing Bee. He, Natasha and Shuri had managed to sit together for only a couple of minutes, excitedly sharing what they thought might be in store for them for the traditional evening wear tasks ahead of them. They were ushered off for promotional pictures and individual segments then, and before Steve knew it he was behind his usual table in the sewing room, feeling overdressed and underprepared for the weekend ahead.

He had decided to dress well for the finale, allowing himself to make a big deal out of how far he had gotten. Instead of his usual jeans, he wore a pair of blue, tight-fitting suit pants, which hugged his legs in a way he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he hoped Bucky would notice. With it, he wore a waistcoat he had made from a floral fabric, the blue buds standing out next to the pants, while the pale pink petals added a soft contrast, and matched the blush toned shirt he had on.

He looked around him, shooting a grin and a thumbs up to both Natasha and Shuri respectively and receiving nods and smiles in response. They had obviously decided to make the most of the occasion also, as Natasha’s lips were an even brighter red than usual, and she wore a black sundress which licked at her calves. Shuri, in contrast, was wearing a white bodycon dress with a high, mesh neckline. 

Steve held his breath as the cameras started to roll, and the judges entered. Loki and Pepper moved to the front of the room, and smiled at the group. Bucky followed soon after, and then they were off.

“Hello, and welcome to the grand finale of this season of  _ The Sewing Bee!  _ First, I just want to congratulate the three of you for your achievement in making it this far. Give yourselves a pat on the back!” He paused, and Steve rolled his eyes with a small smile, patting himself on the shoulder and enjoying the way Bucky responded with a delighted smile.

“As you know, our theme for the week is formal wear, so I will pass it over to our beautiful judges to introduce your first task.” Loki stepped up, and took a moment to make eye contact with each of them before he spoke. Steve felt distinctly exposed by the gaze, but by now he was used to Loki’s particular brand of intensity, so he shook it off to listen to the briefing.

“Simplicity can be deceptive,” he began, “The simplest of garments only appear as such because of the incredible delicacy and skill applied to their creation. This is what we will be looking for in this task.” Steve accepted the pattern which was handed to him and read the cover page, as Pepper began to speak.

“This is a classic men’s dress shirt. It should look simple and flawless in the final product, with clean lines, carefully chosen fabric and buttons to match. There are a lot of elements in this shirt, from the split yoke on the upper back of the garment, which should be cut on the bias, providing a challenge in ensuring the finished product is symmetrical. If you use a printed or striped fabric, we will also be checking your pattern matching on all seams.”

Steve gulped. Deceptive simplicity. Right. 

“You have three hours. Your time starts now.” Bucky announced, and Steve took his time to read over the pattern carefully, making notes and highlighting sections to make sure he knew what every step of the process entailed. Then he went in search of suitable fabric.

He scanned the shelves, dismissing colour after colour, wanting it to be perfect. He spotted a pale blue cotton on a high shelf, and went in search of the footstool to reach up for it, when he felt a presence behind him, a warm hand brushing his waist. Bucky reached over him and pulled down the bolt of fabric. 

Steve was ready to protest until he heard a whisper in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Sorry, I know you hate that. I just needed an excuse because I couldn’t keep my hands off of you much longer.” Steve bit his lip to suppress a moan, and swatted at Bucky playfully.

“Shoo, I’m busy!” He complained, but he was smiling and Bucky obliged with a flirtatious waggle of his eyebrows. Steve shook his head, laid out the fabric, and set to work.

It was an incredibly exacting pattern, and it took all of Steve’s concentration to make it work. He realised about halfway through placing the pattern pieces on the fabric that it had a subtle white pinstripe, meaning he had to start over again and think about pattern matching across the seams. 

Loki and Pepper were circulating during the task along with Bucky, and he managed to hold a short conversation with them while he carefully pinned the front right portion to the corresponding half of the yoke. He’d then have to do the same with the left, attaching the two yoke portions together before adding the main back panel. Then he could move onto the sleeves, and then the collar, and apparently he was supposed to find time in all of that to  _ hand sew  _ the cuffs for ultimate luxury.

They’d have to wait and see about that.

Despite the vast amount of work involved in the task, Steve found himself enjoying it. There was a celebratory atmosphere in the air, and Steve smiled to himself as it finally sank in.

He was sewing in the grand final of the Sewing Bee.

When Steve presented his final garment, the familiar flutter of nerves in his chest wasn’t as pronounced as it usually was. He had managed the pattern matching, but it had meant that he hadn’t had quite as much time for hand sewing so his stitches were slightly uneven on the cuffs, but he was happy with it overall. 

Pepper complimented his fabric choice, which caused Steve to flick his eyes to Bucky in time to catch the fleeting smirk which passed his face.

Natasha and Shuri’s shirts were similarly praised, but as neither of them had opted for a patterned fabric, they had managed to be a little neater on the hand sewing. Shuri managed to cinch the top spot, with Natasha close behind and Steve coming in third. They made their way out to the courtyard for lunch.

“To getting this far!” Natasha announced, holding her coffee cup aloft, and Steve and Shuri clinked their cups with hers before digging into their lunch. Shuri was called for her interview first, and Steve and Natasha sat nursing the last of their coffee while they waited for their turn.

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do once this is over?” She asked, and Steve had to fight back the urge to say  _ Bucky _ . He took a sip of his coffee to consider, and she raised an eyebrow at him. “Besides Barnes, I meant.” Steve choked and had to take a minute to clear his throat.

“Jesus, Natasha! I was just gonna say I’d take a week to just draw and vegetate, not touch a sewing machine outside of a dire emergency for a while.” He knew she saw right through him, but she didn’t dwell on the moment.

“I want to go on vacation, lounge by a pool with no stress and no TV cameras,” she mused, draining her mug and standing as Shuri walked back in, gesturing for Natasha to go next. 

“That sounds nice,” Steve replied as she left and Shuri sat back in her spot. 

“What sounds nice?” 

“A vacation in the sun. No pressure, no competition.” 

Shuri shrugged with a grin. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” she asked, and Steve laughed. “I’m starting college in a month, officially. I’ve already taken a bunch of classes, but I’ll actually be on campus for once. I can’t  _ wait _ . I’m sure I’ll be wishing to be back here when finals roll around though.”

“I find it hard to believe you’d struggle with exams,” Steve commented with a raised eyebrow, and she smiled sheepishly.

“Well, I suppose not. Still though, no space for a proper sewing setup in a dorm room.” 

“I’m sure Wanda will have a couple of tips for you on that one, you should keep in touch with her.” She nodded and smiled.

“I’m going to miss this, I think. But I am excited for what comes next.” Steve couldn’t help but smile at her optimism, and he found himself actually agreeing with it.

“Yeah, me too.” Natasha came back then, and Steve drained his own coffee, slightly cold now. He waved and headed in for his interview with Maria.

“How are you finding the finale so far?” She asked to get it started, and Steve shrugged.

“It’s great, honestly! I’ve had such a blast so far, even if my stitching was wonky.”

“What do you think of your chances?” Steve wiggled a hand in a so-so gesture.

“I don’t know, I did come bottom in that first task which isn’t promising, but I hope I can knock it out of the park for my last ever transformation challenge. It’s my favourite task every week, so I want to give it my all. I’m excited with my made-to-measure design too.”

“Do you have any family or friends coming to visit set tomorrow? It’s generally traditional to have some support for the results.” Steve smiled softly. He didn’t exactly have a wide circle of people in his life to invite. At least, he hadn’t before now.

“I’ve invited my good friend and neighbour, but I’m looking forward to celebrating with the rest of the sewists too, getting the gang back together, you know? They’ve basically been my family for the last six weeks, so it’ll be great to have everyone back!”

After his interview wrapped, there were only a few minutes left before they were all called back in for the transformation challenge. The rack was visible when he walked in, displaying wide expanses of white fabric. Steve turned his attention to the judges as the cameras started to roll.

“As you can see, we have managed to collect quite a few wedding dresses for you to play with today!” Bucky announced. “Honestly, it was quite a task, my sister was  _ not _ happy with me when she caught me breaking into her house in the middle of the night to steal hers,” he joked, and there was a polite titter from those assembled.

“Anyway,” Loki interjected fluidly, “We would like you to take these gowns, and turn them into a child’s dress, for any occasion, providing it is formal.”

“You must use only one dress for this, so choose wisely,” Pepper concluded. Bucky gave the usual time announcement, and then they were off. Steve riffled through the rack until he found one which looked promising. Plenty of layers of tulle and chiffon to play with in the skirt, as well as a satin layer and some interesting beading in the bodice. His mind ran through potential designs he could make from it, and he settled on one as he rushed the dress back to his station. 

Time would be tight for this one, so he sketched out a plan which would utilise as much of the sewing which was already done as possible. Then, carefully, he began to cut segments of the dress to be used.

“It’s weird, cutting up a stranger’s wedding dress. Isn’t it?” Shuri commented. 

“Yeah, it kind of is. I wonder why they gave it away,” he responded, thinking of increasingly dramatic possibilities. Maybe the dress wearer in question just wasn’t particularly sentimental. Maybe the marriage had ended, and they were disposing of any memories related to it. Maybe the couple had died in some dramatic fashion and their children were carelessly casting away all of their beloved heirlooms. Steve blinked out of his thoughts and focused back on his work.

Once he had his panels laid out, ready to assemble, Bucky came over.

“Did you really steal your sister’s wedding dress?” he asked, and Bucky snorted.

“Nah, I think she would genuinely have murdered me. Though I think she might have given it to me if she thought she could get a communion dress for my niece out of it, actually.”

“Well, I’d offer,” Steve suggested, “but maybe we should wait and see how this one turns out first.” Bucky laughed and shrugged.

“I’ll hold you to that, you know. I’m sure you’ll nail this.” Steve flushed and went back to work. He hadn’t exactly intended to insinuate himself with Bucky’s family like that, they had only kissed once for god’s sake, but he had to admit it was nice that Bucky hadn’t dismissed the offer out of hand.

Bucky went on to speak to Natasha, and Steve went back to work assembling the dress. He used the satin from the skirt to form the bodice of the new dress, clean and unadorned for the most part, but with the beading from the original dress’ bodice adorning one shoulder. The skirt would be composed of layer after layer of gathered tulle and chiffon to create a fluffy, princess-style silhouette.

Once the bodice was made, Steve set to the arduous task of gathering the tulle evenly. It was repetitive and dreary work, and the yards of glaring white fabric almost gave him a headache.

He gathered, he pinned, he sewed, and he repeated the process again until the skirt was almost as wide as it was long. Then he set to actually attaching those layers to the bodice, adding a lining from the original to ensure the dress would actually be wearable for a child. He had salvaged the buttons and button loops from the dress, so he attached those on the back of the bodice, and then added some finishing touches to make the dress look polished and well-made.

The time ran out, and Steve stood back in satisfaction, putting his creation alongside the other two and high-fiving Shuri on his way back.

Shuri had used an ivory silk and lace gown to create a cute but elegant high-low dress with a beaded neckline. Natasha’s had a similar skirt to Steve’s, though she hadn’t used quite as many layers, and her bodice was more decorative, with lace covering the satin, and extending into long sleeves.

The judges returned, and inspected each garment. Again, they seemed to have difficulty deciding between the three, though they ultimately noticed a small patch where Natasha’s lace had frayed, and questioned the length of Shuri’s in the front.

Steve couldn’t believe his ears at coming first in the final transformation challenge, and allowed himself to be pulled into a hug by Shuri and Natasha, who had been given second and third place respectively. 

It was strange to leave the building this time around, knowing for a fact that whatever happened the following day he would not be returning again as a contestant. Bucky smiled and waved at him from his usual spot by the car, but Steve didn’t go over to him, nor did Bucky invite him. Steve’s restraint was only so strong, and he was almost certain that after the previous week, being in an enclosed space with Bucky was just asking for him to break their arrangement and climb on top of him right away.

As nice as that might have sounded right now, especially when he remembered the way Bucky had crowded up behind him in front of cameras and judges earlier, he would need his rest before the made-to measure challenge the following day. 

He made do with his hand instead when he got home, thinking about how Bucky felt pressed up against him and imagining Bucky’s mouth continuing their exploration of his body which they had started the previous week.

The following morning, he woke up with an idea which he couldn’t shake, and dressed carefully. He was wearing the same clothes as the previous day, as per the studio’s requirements for continuity, but he had made one key change which wouldn’t be visible to the cameras, but which he could hopefully draw Bucky’s attention to before filming started for the day. 

If he couldn’t, well then it could just be a surprise for after they wrapped. He couldn’t say he minded either way, because he was sure Bucky’s reaction would be  _ delicious  _ either way.

Bruce drove him to the studio again, but instead of driving on to work or going back home, he came in along with him, where the production company had set up a side room for family and friends of the contestants, along with the rest of the sewists who hadn’t made it to the final, to watch the final task as it happened via live stream, complete with free food and drinks and entertainment for any of their children who had been brought along.

Steve waved goodbye to him and signed himself in, noting that he was the last to arrive this time around. Clearly the others had both decided that they wanted to be here early today as well.

The tension in the contestant’s area was palpable as the three of them sat around, drinking coffee and looking over their made-to-measure patterns while discussing who they had brought along with them for the day.

By the time they were called into the sewing room, Steve’s mouth was dry and his heart was thumping with adrenaline. There was an extra layer of pressure from the cameras today, as he knew that they were actually being watched live, albeit only by a few of their closest friends and family. Steve waved subtly at the camera for Bruce and Sam in particular, and then put his game face on.

The judges greeted them warmly, and Bucky announced the task, though Steve’s mind was racing ahead, reciting the steps in his head and planning his approach carefully. He tuned back in just in time to hear Bucky wish them luck, warm sincerity infusing with his words. 

Steve felt a smile spread across his face, and he set to work. The task was to make an elegant evening gown, and Steve had selected a sleeveless mermaid silhouette, made from a deep red rayon which would cling to every curve and drape nicely in the flare out. It was a simple fabric which would require no small amount of skill to make it extraordinary, but Steve was sure it would look absolutely stunning on Peggy, and he hoped he could do his design justice in his execution of the garment.

He started by carefully measuring Peggy again, noting with amusement how much more efficient he could be when he wasn’t busy ogling the model’s shoulders as he had been the previous week. 

“So how did you manage without me last week? I hope your male model wasn’t too difficult to work with?” Steve laughed at Peggy’s comment, and she raised an eyebrow at him in question.

“He was alright,” Steve hedged and then, because he saw Bucky was within earshot, he raised his voice a little to add, “though he was nowhere near as professional about the whole thing as you are.” 

“Rude!” Bucky called out, making his way over to them and sending Steve into a fit of laughter. Peggy looked between them in surprise.

“Really?” She asked, incredulously, and Steve nodded before going back to his measuring. 

“Yeah, there was some drama or something with the original model, and the studio must have decided it would be a fun bit of publicity to let me stick him with pins for a couple of hours instead.” Bucky glanced over his shoulder, seeing the cameras focused on Shuri and Natasha where they were playing around with the shiny beaded fabric Natasha was using, draping it like a shawl and fainting dramatically.

“I’d happily let you stick me with something other than pins, just say the word,” he whispered into Steve’s ear. Steve almost choked on his own spit, and pushed Bucky away with a furious blush.

“Stop that!” Peggy couldn’t have heard what he said, but the gist must have been obvious from Steve’s reaction because she looked like she was suppressing her own fit of giggles, and Bucky smiled innocently.

“I’m just saying!” he shrugged, and then the cameras were back on them, and Bucky went back to his usual on-screen level of flirtation. 

“So tell me about this dress, Steve. What do you have in mind for us?” Steve described the dress, and Bucky nodded very seriously at everything he said. While Steve was talking, he saw Loki and Pepper drifted closer until they joined in with questions about the design and fabric choice.

“This is a very close-fitting gown, what are you doing to maintain the shape with this fabric?” Loki asked, and Steve had by now gained a keen sense of when Loki’s questions were simply questions, and when they were challenges. Steve carefully described the way he was using a double layer of rayon to help the skirt drape properly, accompanied with a lining in the bodice to help it cling to Peggy’s curves.

“And as for the sleeveless bodice, I assume there will be boning inserted to keep the shape?” Pepper prompted.

“Oh, of course!” Steve was a little irritated, because he had been  _ getting to that. _ “There will be boning here, and here, and then around the back on these seams,” he pointed to the relevant parts of his design, almost missing the way Bucky -- who had been about to move to someone else -- turned back at the words. Loki nodded to Pepper, and they left to interrogate Shuri instead, and Steve let out a breath he had been holding.

“Why does that never get less terrifying?” he asked Bucky, who just smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

“I don’t know Steve, but I do have questions about this boning you mentioned?” Steve paused, halfway through reaching for his fabric to cut the next segment, and looked up at Bucky. He was confused for a moment, not entirely sure why Bucky seemed so interested in strips of semi-flexible plastic used to help a bodice maintain its shape on the body, until he replayed the sentence in his head.

“You’re disgusting, Barnes. You know that?” Steve scolded him, but he followed it up with the shadow of a wink.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,  _ Rogers, _ ” Bucky raised his eyebrows,exaggerating the surname, and Steve rolled his eyes as he continued. “I’m just very interested in the dressmaking process. Do you, ah, insert the boning quickly, or do you need to go slowly, ease it in? Is there a lot of prep involved, or does it just slide in easy?” 

Steve’s eyes bugged out, and he glanced around. There was one camera on them, and the operator seemed to be struggling through their own laughter. Peggy was standing with them, and She whispered something in their ear which had them both laughing.

Steve bit his lip, internally debating whether this was a line of flirtation he could continue without needing to take some time out -- either alone or with Bucky.

“It’s great you’re taking an interest after all this time! Why don’t I show you?” Bucky smirked and moved closer, and Steve waited until he was close enough to touch before whipping out the long strip of boning plastic and using it to poke Bucky firmly in the side.

“Ow! What was that for?” Bucky pouted, rubbing at his side.

“Oh come on, it’s not that hard,” Steve retorted, and then narrowed his eyes when Bucky opened his mouth to say something. “Nope. Stop. Remember what I said last week about you being distracting?”

“I seem to recall something along those lines, yes…” Steve raised an eyebrow and Bucky stepped back away from him. “Alright,” he conceded, “I’ll behave.”

“Much better,” Steve grinned at Bucky and went back to his work, measuring and marking the fabric before beginning to cut. The fabric choice along with the cut of the garment meant he needed to be incredibly precise. All innuendo aside, the size of the seams were very important to insure he could fit the boning correctly without it getting stuck or slipping out while the dress was being worn.

When he had each piece cut and carefully laid out, with labels to ensure nothing was mixed up or misplaced, Steve allowed himself a moment to look around the room. It seemed as though everyone was at a similar point in the process, Natasha still cutting her final panels and Shuri cross checking the panels she had cut with her pattern.

Steve shot them each a smile before diving back into his own work. He managed to fit the bodice on Peggy right on schedule, and there were thankfully only a few slight adjustments to be made before he could start the more time-consuming process of inserting the boning and sewing it in so it was secure.

Loki came back to check in on his progress while he was adding the finishing touches to the top of the bodice and he almost broke a needle on the boning under the pressure. Thankfully he caught it just in time, easing the layers through the machine and saving himself the arduous task of replacing the needle in the sewing machine, and possibly having to start over if the fabric pulled too much.

By the time he was satisfied with the bodice, he was surprised to find the task already more than halfway over. It never failed to amaze him how quickly time could pass in this room. He honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if someone were to tell him there was some sort of mystical power at play which turned hours into minutes just to mess with him.

He started working on the skirt next, which would need to attach almost seamlessly to the bodice in order to maintain the proper silhouette and then flare out just below the knee. It was imperative that he got the measurements correct at this point, to ensure the dress looked elegant and dramatic rather than having Peggy look like a doll with her legs stuck in a birthday cake.

He double checked everything and went back to work, using a tiny stitch to attach the panels for the bodycon portion of the skirt and pressing it carefully before moving to the flared portion. It would be assembled from yard after yard of fabric cut into semicircles stitched together carefully, then added to the bottom of the dress with carefully placed gathers to prevent it from sticking out awkwardly. 

Steve allowed his mind to wander a little once he started hemming the long piece of fabric before he added it to the gown, looking around to see what Natasha and Shuri had worked up.

Natasha’s gown was a pale gold in colour, with the bodice overlaid with a beaded tulle and an open back. The skirt flared out in a princess style, with a layer of satin covering tulle and net layers, resulting in a beautifully striking silhouette. She was fitting the skirt on her model before attaching it to the bodice, and Steve noticed the model seemed to have her hand in a pocket which was hidden in the folds of the skirt.

Shuri’s gown was made from blue silk which cascaded with a distinct old-Hollywood elegance over her model’s curves, hugging the waist and draping smoothly to the floor. The neckline was low, with a jewelled embellishment on the vee, and it had short sleeves which resembled waterfalls flowing gently from the shoulders. The waistline was wrapped similarly to a cummerbund, and Shuri was working on adjusting the folds there to help the dress sit correctly on the model. 

Steve finished hemming and then began adding this final piece to the skirt. This was no less time consuming than hemming, with the added difficulty of needing to ensure the gathers were all even so that the folds of the fabric were of equal sizes when the dress was worn. 

He finally finished with only ten minutes remaining of the task, and Peggy wriggled into the gown when he handed it to her, turning to allow him to zip up the back. The zip slid up smoothly, and Steve stood back to inspect his work. It fit her well, and he couldn’t see any glaring flaws in the garment. He quickly made sure it was hanging properly, using his mini steamer to remove any wrinkles which had worked their way into the fabric since he had last pressed it. Peggy was smiling at him when the final timer rang out, and he pulled her into a careful hug.

“Thank you so much. I’m so glad you were my model.” Peggy patted him on the back and pulled away.

“You better not talk any more, or I’ll wind up crying and needing to get my makeup touched up before they can start judging.” Steve huffed a laugh and stepped back, turning just in time to catch Shuri and Natasha having a similar moment with their models. They took their positions for the judging, and the three finalists made their way together, arms around each other while they watched their models display the garments and whispering compliments to each other.

It seemed that the judges couldn’t find much to criticise in any of their garments, so they went to give their post-task interviews with no small sense of apprehension while the final decisions were being made. Steve was on his way to Maria when he heard his name.

“Hey, Steve!” Steve turned to see Bucky rushing to catch up with him. 

“Hi Bucky.” Steve tried not to think about the promise he had made last week; tried not to wonder if Bucky still wanted that, or if his flirtation earlier had just been an act for the cameras.

“I just want to say, no matter what happens with the judges, you should be proud. I mean, I’m sure you know that already, but I just. I wanna congratulate you. And I’m glad you made it to this point -- Glad I got to know you.” Steve felt as though his insides had turned to jelly, and a stupid smile spread across his face. He wasn’t entirely sure how he stayed standing as he replied.

“Likewise, Bucky. I’ll, uh… I’ll see you later?” Bucky turned pink and nodded enthusiastically, reaching out to touch Steve’s arm softly, then pulling back and walking back down the hall.

“Good luck, Steve!” he called over his shoulder. 

Steve giggled to himself and walked the rest of the way to Maria with a spring in his step. She asked him about his dress, about his highlights of the series and what he will take with him from his experiences, and he answered her without really knowing what he was saying.

“How does it feel to have finished your last task?” Steve let out a heavy breath at her last question and shook his head with a smile.

“It’s hard to believe, honestly. I’m so proud of everything I’ve done, and I just can't wait to meet up with everyone again, you know?” She nodded and checked the time.

“Well, I think I should let you head out then, they’ll all be gathering now. Steve thanked her and almost ran back to the sewing room. 

Bruce was there, talking to what looked to be the head of the studio and gesticulating wildly in a way that told Steve he was talking about his research. Steve made his way over and Bruce spotted him just before he got there. 

“Well done, Steve! That was so impressive. You’ve got this!” Steve suddenly remembered that every moment of the past five hours had been broadcast to the crowd assembled here and he was very glad that he had managed to forget enough to focus on the work.

“Thanks, Bruce. I’m happy with it, but I’m not so sure. I mean, did you see the other two gowns? They were  _ so  _ gorgeous.” Bruce waved him off, and the man next to him took the opportunity to introduce himself.

“Hi. Tony Stark, head of production, I don’t think we’ve met?” He hardly gave Steve a chance to nod before he continued. “I’m a big fan of the way you make Barnes turn into a flustered teenager every time you walk into a room. I have a great little highlight reel I’ll need to send you someday, once I add in today’s gems.” Steve blinked in surprise, but Stark just nodded and walked off to talk to someone else.

“So you and Bucky, then?” Steve flushed at Bruce’s question and tried to talk his way around the question without giving a straight answer before catching Carol’s eye and making an excuse to go talk to her where she stood with her wife and daughter. They hugged and she congratulated him on his gown before introducing him to her family. Soon enough, Natasha and Shuri had returned from their own families and all eight contestants gathered together for the first time in six weeks, talking over each other and catching up while their families laughed in the background. It was like they had never spent any time apart; even Clint, who had only been with them for a week, was part of the tight knit group which formed while they waited for the results.

Steve managed to learn that they had all placed bets on the winner, but nobody would spill the beans to reveal who had bet on whom. Steve was fairly certain he had at least one vote based on the way Phil had smiled when he had tried to wheedle the information from him, but that was all he had to go on. 

He was standing with Sam, laughing as Clint described the outfit he had made for his dog, and the struggles he was having trying to get him to wear it long enough to take a picture, when the judges returned and asked for the finalists to step forward. Bucky went first, introducing the judges in case anyone there didn’t know them, and then talking about the season so far.

“I hope you all know that I’m not exaggerating when I say this has been one of the most joyful seasons of this show yet. Aside from the tasks and competition, I can see that you have all made friends for life in this room, and I hope I can say that I have too,” Steve noticed he looked specifically at Sam and Natasha, then at himself as he spoke before glancing around the room as a whole with a grin.

“I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye to this group, but I’m sure you’re all dying to get to the results, so I’ll pass you over to the judges.” 

Pepper stepped up then, Loki not far behind. Pepper smiled at Tony, and he rolled his eyes with the air of someone who had just lost a bet, and then she turned back to Steve, Natasha and Shuri where they stood with their arms linked.

“Congratulations to the three of you. Making it to the final is a huge achievement, and I hope that you got as much out of your time here as we got from watching you.” She smiled at them, and then Loki continued.

“It has been an interesting season, and all three of you have had your highs and lows over the past weeks, and I hope you’re proud of your progression over the course of this season. You all did extremely well this week so it was a difficult decision to make, but we feel we have made the correct choice.”

The two judges made eye contact, and Loki gestured for Pepper to proceed.

“The winner of the Sewing Bee season six, and the youngest winner we have had in all these years... is Shuri.” There was an explosion of cheers and everyone crowded Shuri with hugs and congratulations. It was at least ten minutes before the room calmed down enough to allow the judges to give their final remarks, but then that was it. Steve spotted Phil, Carol and Clint handing money over to Sam and Wanda, who looked smug at having predicted correctly, but none of them seemed to be unhappy with the result.

The finalists had to go back for one more interview, to give their reaction to the results. Steve followed the intern who came to fetch him, feeling a heady mix of joy for Shuri and disappointment at himself, though he was pleased to note that the joy was far outweighing the regret. 

He was unsurprised when Bucky followed him out and sent the intern away, telling them he would be happy to escort Steve.

They walked in silence for a few paces, and then Bucky asked the question Steve had been trying to figure out how to ask all day.

“What you said last week. Did you mean it?” Steve glanced around, biting his lip when he saw they were alone for now. He reached for Bucky’s hand and pulled him close. Bucky allowed Steve to pull his hand around so it rested on his lower back, and when Steve nudged it down below the waistband of his pants to brush against the silk he had pulled on that morning, Bucky's eyes turned dark.

“Yeah,” Steve replied, “I meant it.” Bucky swallowed visibly and clenched his hand into the fabric.

“Fuck. I’m really going to need you to be quick with that interview, Steve.” Steve laughed and released his hand. Bucky slipped it away with clear reluctance, and led Steve to where Maria waited.

“So how are you feeling about the result?” She asked, simply. Steve took a moment to think about it.

“I’m a little disappointed, sure. I mean, it would be weird if I wasn’t, right? I’ve worked so hard on this, poured everything I have into it. But honestly? I really wasn’t lying when I said I would be happy no matter the outcome. I’ve felt myself improving every step of the way. I’ve challenged myself and had some really bad days, but I got back up, kept pushing. I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of this journey, and I’m so happy for Shuri. She absolutely deserves it.” Steve glanced down the corridor where he knew Bucky was waiting for him.

“And honestly I may be a runner up in the competition, but I definitely feel like I’ve won something over the last few weeks.”

Maria beamed at him and told him she was glad. The camera stopped rolling and Steve couldn’t help holding his arms out for a hug, which she accepted with a smile. 

“It’s been good getting to know you, Steve. See you at the afterparty later?” Steve nodded and returned the sentiments before heading back the way he came, only to be blindsided by Bucky pulling him into a room which turned out to be Darcy’s little haven. She raised an eyebrow at the two of them from where she sat reading a magazine, then stood up.

“I suddenly need to be  _ literally  _ anywhere else,” she said and walked out the door they had just entered through.

Steve looked at Bucky and saw his own desire reflected there. While he had been focused on his work all day, the adrenaline from the final and the emotions of the last time in the sewing room had distracted him from this. Now that was all done, however, there was nothing to take from the way he wanted to get hands, his mouth on every inch of the man in front of him.

“They’ll wonder why we’re late to the party,” he pointed out, and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“Will they?” He responded, and Steve swallowed thickly. They hadn’t exactly tried to disguise their flirting, and Maria and Darcy would soon join the crowd who would be leaving the sewing room to head to the restaurant. Anyone with half a brain would be able to figure it out from there, and there were a lot of very intelligent people in that group. Steve thought he should maybe be embarrassed by that, but instead the thought sent a spark of heat through him, and he grinned at Bucky wickedly.

He wasn’t sure which of them moved first, but suddenly their lips were crashing together, hungry and wanting. Steve maneuvered them so Bucky was backed into a chair, and then Steve fell to his knees. 

“I really wanted to do this last week, when I was sewing that coat on you. Can I..?” Bucky nodded frantically, unbuttoning his fly and giving Steve access which he eagerly took advantage of, pulling his pants down just far enough to free the cock from its restraints, hard and heavy.

Steve made it quick, bringing Bucky to the point of orgasm in just a few minutes. There would be time later to take it slow, to figure out exactly what made Bucky lose it, to turn him into a writhing mess, but for now it was fast and dirty, and when he pulled his mouth back it only took a few jerks of his wrist before Bucky was coming into his hand, eyes rolling back in his head and releasing a drawn out swear that went to Steve’s own desperately hard cock.

“Fuck, Steve. You really don’t ever do things by halves do you?” Steve smirked and raised his hand to lick Bucky’s come from his fingers. Bucky pulled him up with a low growl and Steve climbed onto his lap eagerly. Bucky fumbled slightly with Steve’s belt, but then it was open and Bucky was reaching in to grab hold of him and pulling him in for a kiss.

Steve was already close, the buildup over the past weeks and finally getting Bucky to himself with no outside pressures having an overwhelming effect on him; so with the sensation of Bucky’s rough palm, along with the softness of the silk between each slide of his fingers, it wasn’t long before Steve spilled between them, biting hard on Bucky’s lower lip as he came.

They were both breathing heavily, panting into each other’s mouths until Bucky started to giggle. Steve leaned back just enough to look at his face and raised an eyebrow in question.

“We’re gonna have to go back out to everyone, and I’ve got your come all over my shirt,” Steve glanced down and saw he was right, then started laughing too.

“Well, I seem to recall there were some emergency clothes in here, right?” Steve raised an eyebrow and climbed off Bucky’s lap, tucking himself back into his silk panties and zipping up his pants before going to investigate the wardrobe. He glanced over his shoulder to see Bucky unbuttoning his shirt and stopped in his tracks to watch.

Bucky smirked as he pulled the shirt off and wadded it into a ball before following Steve to the wardrobe. 

“See something you like, sweetheart?” he asked, and Steve flushed at the pet name. It wasn’t the first time Bucky had used it, but it felt different here, after what they had just done and without the cameras on them. He reached out to loop his arms around Bucky’s neck and pulled him down for a deep, searching kiss.

“You know I do.”

They finally made it to the restaurant where everyone was gathered, and were greeted with loud cheers and whoops from their friends. Steve noticed another exchange of money; Tony looking a lot more smug this time, but he decided not to question it. Questions of why exactly Bucky was wearing a skintight mesh shirt rather than the professional crisp shirt he had on earlier went unanswered. They stayed close to each other, always touching in some way or another. 

Steve and Natasha both stood up to say a few words just as all the others had done in previous weeks, and everyone toasted Shuri’s win. Her victory speech was short but hilarious, and resulted in another round of toasts and celebrations.

Gradually, people started to clear out one by one and in small groups until it was just Steve, Bucky, Sam, Natasha and Tony around the table. Bruce had offered to give him a ride home when he left, but Steve had wanted to stay. He was practically sitting in Bucky’s lap at this point; he had been conscious not to drink too much but he was still celebrating, and he had a pleasant buzz going.

They were talking about something relating to the show’s airing dates, some three months in the future, but Steve wasn’t paying too much attention. Bucky’s arm was resting on his lower back, rubbing circles into the base of his spine and occasionally dipping lower to brush against his waistband and making Steve itch to have him move it lower. He turned his head to nuzzle into the crook of Bucky’s neck, and heard a snort from one of the others. 

“Jesus, you two need to get a room, seriously.” It was Sam, and Steve looked up just enough to grin at him, and was met with an exasperated sigh. 

“I’m with the Birdman,” Tony chimed in, and Sam turned to him.

“I made  _ one _ costume with wings, and it was  _ Falcon, _ not fucking Birdman,” Tony waved it off and Sam sat back, looking like a child mid-tantrum. Natasha patted him on the arm reassuringly and Steve suppressed a giggle against Bucky’s shoulder.

“As I was saying, you two need to get a room before you start making out in the middle of this very nice restaurant.” Steve glanged up at Bucky’s face, and read the question in his eyes. He shrugged in response and Bucky smiled wide. Sam was looking at them in confusion.

“Did you two just have a conversation without saying anything? What is happening?” Natasha snorted.

“I’ll explain when you're older, Sam.” Sam huffed and drank the last of his beer as Steve stood up, pulling Bucky up after him. 

“We’re gonna head out. We’ll talk to you guys later, alright?” They said their goodbyes and then headed out together, arm in arm.

“So,” Bucky said, and Steve recognised something resembling nervousness in his expression. He reached up onto his toes to kiss him again, and smiled.

“Your place or mine?” Steve asked, and Bucky relaxed.

“I seem to recall a mention of yours?” Steve nodded and flagged a taxi, giving his address to the driver and climbing in the back. They rode in silence, pressed up against each other, tension building by the second until they arrived at Steve’s block and Bucky insisted on paying the fare.

“Call it my treat to congratulate you on the competition?” Steve raised an eyebrow and pulled Bucky towards the door.

“I had a different treat in mind, actually.”

They barely made it up the stairs to Steve’s apartment door before they were pulling at each other’s clothes, Steve eager to remove the ridiculous shirt Bucky had found in the wardrobe -- not that he didn’t look amazing in the mesh fabric-- and Bucky trying to finally appreciate the sight that was Steve in nothing but silk lingerie. Steve finally managed to get the door unlocked and they practically fell inside together.

“Do you --” Steve gasped between kisses, “D’you want water, or a drink or anything?” Bucky practically growled and pulled Steve close.

“Just want you,” he whispered into Steve’s ear quietly, sending shivers through his whole body. Steve gazed up at him through his lashes and nodded.

“Bedroom?” he asked, and Bucky nodded eagerly. Steve led the way, the ten paces from the front door to his bedroom taking a lot more time than it should have as they stumbled and kept pausing to remove articles of clothing they couldn’t stand to have between them any longer. When they finally got into the bedroom, Steve kicked off his shoes and removed the rest of his layers so he stood in front of Bucky wearing nothing but the silky set he had put on with this precise moment in mind.

Bucky looked at him and time stretched out between them. The panties were far from pristine, their earlier activities leading to a wet stain where his dick had strained against the fabric and the chemise was wrinkled from a day of wear, but Bucky didn’t seem to care about any of that.

“Jesus, Steve, would you look at you?” Steve flushed and Bucky reached out to touch him, tweaking a nipple which was visible under the thin fabric, and Steve couldn’t take it any longer. He had already loosened Bucky’s belt on the way to the bedroom, so he made short work of removing his pants and Bucky kicked them off eagerly before pulling Steve down onto the bed.

They fell in a tangle of limbs, wrapped up in each other. Now there was nothing but the thin silk of Steve’s lingerie and the cotton of Bucky’s underwear between them, the urgency dimmed to a mild simmer, and they took their time kissing and letting their hands roam. Steve learned that Bucky had a spot just above his collarbone which, when he nipped at it, produced the most  _ delightful _ sounds from his mouth, and Bucky quickly discovered how sensitive Steve’s earlobe was.

Then Bucky’s hand moved down again, slipping under the silk and lace to cup Steve’s ass and brush against his hole and Steve moaned.

“Please, Bucky.” Bucky bit his lip and moved his hips so their dicks brushed together through the thin layers of fabric between them.

“What do you prefer?” he asked, voice low, and Steve could barely find words to answer.

“I don’t -- shit -- don’t have a preference,” Bucky leaned up and started licking at Steve’s nipple through the silk and Steve had to stop talking to let out a string of curses.

“Then what do you  _ want?” _ Bucky amended the question, pulling off and then turning his attention to the other nipple. 

“God, Bucky... please, hngg, I want you inside me.” Steve managed to get out, and he felt Bucky’s dick twitch against his own.

“You got it,” He pulled back and looked around, “You got lube and condoms?” Steve nodded and leaned over to retrieve them from the bedside drawer and handed them to Bucky. He wasted no time in slicking up his fingers and moving them back to where they had been, circling his hole and pressing in ever so slightly before teasing some more.

“You fucking jerk, get on with it, would you?” Bucky laughed.

“Oh you’re mouthy, aren’t you? I should’ve fucking  _ known.” _ Steve would have protested that, but Bucky punctuated the end of his sentence by pushing in one finger and began opening him up, and Steve’s higher brain functions stopped working momentarily. 

“Fucking hell, you’re so --  _ christ, _ Bucky,” He babbled as Bucky added a second, then a third finger, and Steve couldn’t help but fuck himself back onto them as Bucky worked him open, which caused Bucky to brush up against his prostate. Steve whined, high and loud, and fell forward to kiss Bucky senseless.

“Please, I’m ready for you, Bucky, I’m ready,” he panted between kisses, and Bucky growled at his words, pulling his fingers out after a few more strokes. 

“You sure, sweetheart? Still feel so tight, darling, sure you can take me?” Steve rocked his hips back, looking for some friction in the absence of Bucky’s fingers.

“Yes, fuck, Please Bucky?” Bucky grinned and pressed a kiss to his lips before reaching for the condom.

“Alright, sweetheart, I got you.” Steve pulled at Bucky’s boxer briefs to speed things up, sliding down Bucky’s body to get them all the way off while Bucky rolled the condom on.Steve crawled back up and positioned himself over Bucky.

“Want me to keep these on?” He asked, pulling at the waistband of the silk which was now almost completely ruined with precome and lube. Bucky didn’t answer, just reached up to pull the fabric to one side and line his cock up with Steve’s hole. Steve didn’t wait for him to move this time, sank himself down and relished in the stretch of it, in Bucky’s surprised moan and the way they fit together. 

“Fucking hell, Steve, warn a guy would you?” Bucky moaned, and Steve moved his hips slightly to feel the burn of Bucky’s cock inside of him.

“Sorry, this okay?” he asked, and Bucky nodded eagerly.

“ _ So  _ fucking okay, I just wasn’t -- hmpf -- wasn’t expecting that,” Bucky grunted mid-speech as Steve rose up and sat back down again. “You little shit.”

Steve laughed out loud and Bucky looked up at him, face red and eyes shining. Next thing he knew, Bucky was grabbing hold of his hips and giving as good as he got, fucking into Steve hard and fast. 

They were  _ spectacular _ together, if Steve said so himself, all give and take. One minute, Steve was in control, trying to get Bucky to make that face where his eyes screwed shut and his mouth fell open, then next thing he knew Bucky took over and Steve was unable to do anything but follow his lead, letting him take what he wanted and more than happy to give.

When he came, it was a crescendo, and he fell panting onto Bucky’s chest, feeling him follow after only a few more thrusts.

“That was…” Bucky trailed off with a laugh.

“Yeah, it was.” Steve agreed, after catching his breath. He rose up, wincing slightly as Bucky slipped out of him. He was vaguely aware of Bucky removing the condom and getting up to drop it in the bin.

When he returned, Steve pulled him close and nuzzled into the hair on his chest with a hum. 

“Steve, don’t you dare fall asleep, we’re disgusting,” Steve burrowed in closer and pouted when Bucky unwrapped his arms from around him to get back up.

“Where’s your bathroom?” he asked, and Steve gestured vaguely. Bucky snorted and left, coming back a few minutes later with a damp cloth to clean them both off. Steve managed to remove the lingerie set while he was gone and Bucky wiped him down gently before discarding the cloth somewhere out of sight and climbing back into bed. 

This time, Bucky happily obliged his cuddling, and Steve drifted off to sleep happily wrapped in his arms. It had been a long and difficult few weeks, but Steve knew it had been worth it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..... And there we have it! Hope you all enjoyed! What do you think of the results? I have an epilogue planned that will hopefully go up this month but the main story is done! It's been a wild couple of months, huh?


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sketches for the finale are available on [tumblr](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/post/629411176957247488/sketches-for-the-finale-chapter-of-on-your-marks) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Nerds_/status/1304528419561103361?s=20)!  
> Enjoy the last installment for this fic <3

Things went back to normal pretty quickly for Steve after filming wrapped for the Sewing Bee, or as close to normal as they could, considering all that had happened. He spent the first couple of weeks catching up on commissions he had neglected and trying to get his apartment back into some kind of order. He was frequently reminded of the competition, however, through scraps of fabric and thread he found dotted all over his apartment, where he had practiced some pattern or other in his preparation for tasks. And then, of course, there was Bucky. 

Bucky was still on a show schedule, with extra filler scenes and snippets to film, which meant he tended to come over to Steve’s after a long day of filming to pull him away from whatever he had been trying to work on, and Steve was always more than happy to welcome him in. Steve hadn’t been sure what dating someone like Bucky Barnes would look like, and he was relieved to see that it fell into place easily, for the most part.

Most of the time, they hung out at Steve’s place, either relaxing on the sofa in comfy clothes or heading straight to bed -- whether that was to sleep or for other activities depended on the day.

Steve’s first time in Bucky’s apartment was an experience, to say the least. He had had certain expectations based on his job -- cream sofas and minimalist decor; impersonal but luxurious. He was surprised to walk in the front door to find the apartment filled with soft rugs and plants, with fluffy blankets on the clearly expensive leather sofa. The fridge was covered in family photos and drawings which Bucky explained were his niece’s.

Steve turned to Bucky, only to see him standing nervously in the doorway.

“Well? I know it’s probably not what you expected, but…” Steve walked back over and went up on his toes to kiss him. 

“It’s perfect. Why have we been spending so much time in my place when yours is this comfortable?” Bucky laughed and shrugged, clearly relieved as he wrapped Steve in his arms.

“I like your place. It’s cosy.”

“It’s a tiny little two-room box, Buck. This is a  _ home _ .” Bucky blushed, but he was beaming.

“Well, I mean, you still haven’t seen it all. I could give you the tour -- There’s a dining room, an office, the bathroom, the en-suite, the--”

“Just show me your bed, Buck. The rest can wait.” Bucky laughed and pulled him in through a door. It was the next morning by the time he actually got to see the office or the dining room.

Weeks turned into months, and Bucky finished all his work for this season of Sewing Bee. He had a few weeks off before his next project began, and they made the most of it together before he was pulled across the country for an entire month to film another show he was presenting. It was difficult to be apart, but Bucky had given him a key to his apartment to water his plants and Steve spent more than a few nights there, in Bucky’s bed, relaxing in the now-familiar scent of the sheets.

A week into being apart, Steve sent a selfie of him in nothing but one of Bucky’s shirts, relaxing on the sofa after a day of working on a commission. He forgot about the time difference, and only realised Bucky had still been in a production meeting when he had sent the photo when he got a call ten minutes later from his flustered boyfriend, who had apparently had to flee to a bathroom to take care of the problem Steve had caused.

“I’m sorry, Buck," he smirked and made himself more comfortable, "need a hand taking care of it?”

At the end of the month, Steve managed to get in touch with Bucky’s agent, convincing her to cancel the car she had arranged to pick him up from the airport and letting him go himself. When the gate opened and Bucky walked through, head down and writing a text, Steve couldn’t help but rush forward to jump up on his boyfriend.

His phone chimed just as Bucky looked up and caught him, and they laughed when Bucky almost fell with the force of Steve’s greeting.

“I missed you so much, sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re here.” They went back to Bucky’s place and Steve checked his phone in the taxi, seeing a message from Bucky there, saying he had landed and asking if he could come over.

Steve looked over with a smile to see Bucky looking bashfully back.

“I love you, you dork,” he said, and Bucky’s jaw dropped. The words came so naturally that Steve almost didn't notice he had said them until Bucky replied.

“I love you too, Stevie. Oh my god I love you.” Steve wanted to pull Bucky into his lap then and there in the cab but he managed to wait, showing the driver until they made it back to Bucky’s place, and Bucky's luggage had been deposited off to one side. Steve let him take off his coat, and then he was pulling him in, all but ripping the light tee he wore when he pulled it up over his head.

“I missed you so fucking much, Buck. I’m so glad you’re back. Love you,” he murmured between kisses. 

“Say it again,” Bucky demanded and Steve laughed, stepping back a little and cupping Bucky’s face.

“I love you.” The answering smile was the brightest and loveliest thing Steve had ever seen.

“I love you too,” Bucky sounded like he was relieved to say it, and it sent a jolt through Steve to see him so dishevelled, pants open and shirtless, hair a mess and eyes full of love. 

“Fuck, it’s so good to have you back,” Steve gasped and Bucky sat on his bed, pulling Steve close.

“I need you Steve, sweetheart, come on.” Steve didn’t need to be asked twice, pushing Bucky back so he was laying in bed and climbing on top of him, feeling Bucky unbuttoning his jeans as he did.

Steve knelt up and pulled down his pants before lowering himself over Bucky again, pushing his jeans out of the way as well and pressing kisses into his chest. Between the two of them, they finally managed to remove the rest of their clothes amid slightly awkward fumbling and trying to stay as close as they could. Steve reached over to retrieve the lube and condoms from the nightstand and bit his lip when he came back to see Bucky sprawled naked on the bed, chest pink and gazing up at Steve.

Steve trailed his fingers down Bucky’s chest, through the dark hair nestled in the center and over the sensitive skin on his hip bone, smirking when Bucky shivered at the touch. He continued down until he could hook his hand around Bucky’s knee and lift it up. Bucky caught on quickly. Spreading his legs and baring himself to Steve.

“You want this, hmm? Want me to fuck you?” Bucky nodded earnestly, screwing his eyes closed as Steve took the bottle of lube and poured it onto his fingers. 

“Look at me,” Steve insisted, and smirked when Bucky opened his eyes again to look at him.

“Please, sweetheart. Need to feel you. Been too fucking long, need you to fill me up. Need to feel you.” Steve leaned down to kiss him again.

“I’ve got you, Buck. I got you.” Steve started slowly, slipping one finger in teasingly and enjoying the way Bucky’s head dropped back onto the mattress with a happy sigh at the first breach.

“God Buck, you’re so fucking perfect,” Steve continued as he worked in another finger and started to gently stretch Bucky open. Bucky whined at the stretch and Steve paused, waiting for him to nod before continuing. He kept going until Bucky was a writhing mess on the bed, precome leaking onto his stomach and face twisted in pleasure before he deemed him ready, pulling his fingers out and wiping them on a tissue from the bedside table before grabbing the condom.

“You feeling good, Buck? Ready to go?” 

“Fuck, Steve, look at me. I'm a mess for you. I need you  _ now. _ ” Steve snorted and rolled the condom on, getting more lube to slick himself up.

“Alright, alright, less of the sass. Turn over.” Bucky turned quickly, propping himself up on his hands and knees and tilting his hips up to Steve. Steve used his leg to nudge Bucky’s knees a little bit further apart so he was a little lower to the bed. He pressed a line of kisses down his spine before lining himself up and pressing against the tight ring of muscle, enjoying the low hum of pleasure vibrating from Bucky’s torso.

“God I love you like this. So ready for me, Buck. Feel so fucking good.” Steve pushed in slowly until he bottomed out and then paused, letting Bucky adjust to the stretch before pulling back a little and thrusting forward again. 

“Fuck, Steve, keep going. Just like that, please sweetheart,  _ god--” _ Bucky panted as Steve picked up the pace and lost himself in the rhythm of it, the heat and sounds of their bodies moving together. 

It might have been thirty seconds or ten minutes later when Bucky whimpered.

“Steve, honey, touch me please I’m so fucking close I need--” Steve adjusted his stance, reaching around to grip Bucky’s cock and started stroking it in time with his own thrusts. It only took a few strokes before Bucky came with a stuttering moan, and Steve followed not long after. Steve pulled out and disposed of the condom before they fell together into the mattress in a tangle of limbs, breathing heavily and smiling broadly.

“Hey, Steve?” Bucky asked, and Steve turned his head so he could see Bucky’s face.

“Hmm?” he replied.

“I love you.” The smile on Bucky’s face was blinding, and Steve rolled over slightly to kiss him.

“Love you too. Let’s get cleaned up, hmm?”

They went for round two in the shower once their breathing evened out, not quite replicating their earlier activities but unable to take their hands off each other after the long period of distance.

*

Finally, the day came when the first episode aired, and they watched together on Bucky’s large TV, snacks laid out around them.

“God, Steve, you really are a flirt, aren’t you?” Bucky joked when their first interaction was shown, and Steve laughed. 

“Shut up, I was nervous, and I don’t see you complaining.” Bucky shrugged and kissed Steve’s temple.

At the break, they checked their twitter feeds, Steve noticing an influx of new followers from people who had looked him up from the show and Bucky laughing at the posts from fans of the show who were live tweeting their reactions.

“Steve, look at this!” Bucky thrust his phone at Steve where he had found a tweet talking about their flirting and instructing them to “get some”. Steve laughed and took the phone, starting to reply with something witty before Bucky stopped him.

“Maybe we shouldn’t reply to them? Let them speculate for a while. We don’t want them to read anything into your success on the show, right?” Steve frowned but nodded, handing the phone back.

“Yeah, I guess not. I don’t wanna hide, though. Can we make it clear at the end of the season?” Bucky nodded in reassurance just as the show started back up and they settled in to watch the rest of the episode.

*

For week two, a group consisting of Sam, Natasha, Steve and Bucky gathered together in Natasha’s apartment to watch. Steve had sent in his baby pictures, and it seemed as though everyone else had been asked for theirs too because they popped up on the screen each time someone was interviewed about one of their garments.

“Oh my god, Sam you were so cute! What happened? Look at those little cheeks!” Bucky leaned over and pinched Sam’s cheek when his picture was shown, and Sam slapped him away with a grimace.

“Shut the fuck up Barnes, I’m still adorable. You’re just jealous, buddy.” Bucky laughed and then leaned into Steve as he started talking about his mom on the screen. 

Steve looked at where Bucky was nestled in the crook of his arm and smiled.

“She’d have loved you, Bucky. I wish you could’ve met her.” Bucky smiled up at Steve and took hold of his hand where Steve had rested it on his chest. They didn’t say anything for a while, just looking at each other with soft smiles until Natasha threw a piece of candy from the bag she was eating at them.

“We get it, you’re in love, keep that gross sappy shit out of my apartment, please.” They snapped out of it and went back to watching the show. This time, when they checked twitter, Sam begged Steve to let him tweet the picture of the sketch he had done of all their superhero costumes.

“Ughh really? I did that so quickly, it’s nothing like--”

“Steve, it’s fantastic and you know it. Let me post the damn picture, people are gonna love it.”

“Ugh, fine, post it!” Steve conceded, and Sam sent the tweet. Steve’s notifications were blowing up again, and he had to ask Natasha to help him turn them off.

*

Carol and Clint joined them for lingerie week, this time in Sam’s living room, the six of them relaxing in pajamas across the room. Steve laughed along with the others at the reactions of the internet to his and Bucky’s interactions on-screen. 

“This dude just straight up decided you two were fucking, I wanna send him an award or some shit,” Clint showed them a tweet from someone with a Hello Kitty avatar, and Steve saw Bucky go red.

“But we weren’t! That was just flirting, we weren’t together yet then!” Bucky protested and Steve kissed him fondly.

“Honey, you had to excuse yourself for ten minutes after picturing me in lingerie. I know that didn’t make the edit, but seriously, this--” he gestured between them “--was never subtle.” 

*

Sports week saw Steve and Bucky alone again, and a much quieter watching experience -- apart from a brief laugh over Steve being oblivious to the fact he was wearing Bucky’s shirt, and cringing over Steve’s various failures through the challenges.

“Where do you think we’d be if I’d gone home then?” Steve asked, and Bucky shrugged.

“I dunno. I’m glad you got through. I’m sure we would’ve wound up all over each other one way or another, though.”

They didn’t get to see most of the second half of the episode, spending it making out on the couch like teenagers until they heard themselves singing off-key on screen and pulled apart laughing.

“You’re such a dork, I love you.”

“Love you too, Stevie.”

*

When vintage week aired Bucky was stuck working, so Steve went to Carol’s along with Sam, Wanda, Phil and Shuri to watch with them. Steve couldn’t resist tweeting a picture of the sewing machine money box Bucky had bought for him after he had discovered how expensive a functioning vintage machine cost, and was overcome with a flurry of replies from people speculating (often correctly) about who his “Someone special” could be.

Bucky texted him in response, and Steve laughed out loud, showing the others when they gave him a funny look, and replying to the message with a middle finger emoji.

_ Someone special? You sap. _

“So, be honest. You totally hooked up with him then, right?” Carol’s no-nonsense questioning brought everyone’s focus to Steve, and he blinked innocently.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. We did not engage in any kind of physical or romantic relationship beyond strictly friendly flirting until after filming had wrapped,” Steve quoted almost verbatim from the documents they had signed pertaining to their relationship under Stark’s amused smirk. He knew it wasn’t strictly true, and so did everyone else -- including Stark himself, more than likely -- but it was just a formality to make sure nobody tried to question Steve’s success in the competition up to the finale. 

Shuri and Wanda made eye contact and burst out laughing together.

“Is anyone supposed to actually believe that?” Wanda asked, and Steve shrugged.

“I don’t know. I mean technically we didn’t get together till after the finale, but I would challenge anyone else in my position that week to keep their hands to themselves after that made-to measure. " He paused, then amended, "except I wouldn't, because he's my boyfriend and they better fucking keep their hands off his--"

“I don’t think we really want to know, Steve.” Phil looked awkward, and Steve snorted.

“Fine, but don’t pretend you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about. I mean, the  _ suspenders _ , you know?” 

*

Bucky hosted a watch party for the finale when it aired, and all eight contestants, along with the main crew and a couple of the models -- including Peggy -- gathered in his spacious living room to watch together. It was a loud and energetic group, particularly considering they hadn’t all been in a room together since the filming of this episode.

Tony took a selfie of the whole group together, and posted it to the official Sewing Bee twitter page. Steve had his arm around Bucky, but it wasn’t too clear in the photo so there were only a small few comments on that in comparison to the reaction to his “someone special” comment the previous week. 

Steve spent most of the first two challenges watching silently, occasionally commenting on something he hadn’t noticed from within the room, or laughing at a skit which had been edited in between Bucky and the judges.

After the transformation challenge, Bucky laughed from beside him, and Steve looked at his phone to see Becca had mentioned both of them in tweets. Steve liked Becca -- they had only met once, at her daughter Katie’s birthday party, but they had gotten along well. He had been terrified of meeting Bucky’s family, and it had been overwhelming to say the least.

Becca was easy to like, though. She was witty and poked fun at her brother, and the second she whipped out her phone to show Steve pictures of Bucky’s awkward teenage years, he had decided that this was someone he could be friends with. Steve typed out a response that he’d be happy to make a dress for Katie before putting his phone away for the end of the episode.

When Shuri was announced as the winner, the room erupted into cheers again, and someone pulled out a batch of streamers which they shot off all over the apartment -- Steve suspected it was either Clint or Darcy, but neither of them showed any sign of guilt in response to Bucky’s moans about needing to clean them up after the party.

Steve whipped out his phone to tweet something about the finale, congratulating Shuri. He glanced up at Bucky where he was attempting to get some of the streamers down from where they were tangled in the light fixtures, and added a sentence about feeling like he had won to his tweet before hitting send and pulling Bucky down to sit with him.

“Tidying can wait.” Bucky sat, but pulled out his phone and typed something, just before Steve’s phone pinged. Steve smiled and replied to Bucky with a heart emoji before setting both their phones aside, ignoring the inevitable influx of responses in favour of kissing Bucky senseless while their friends whooped and hollered around them.

The celebrations died down pretty quickly, as everyone turned their attention back to the TV screen. The show had faded into a still image of the contestants with music playing in the background.

A picture of Phil grinning with his wife appeared on screen, along with a brief message saying he was still sewing, and that he was working on his own versions of the tasks he didn’t get to complete on the show. Everyone cheered, and the image changed to one of Clint, the caption describing his efforts at making clothing for pets rather than for children. A picture of his dog, Lucky, wearing a large watermelon costume appeared on screen and was met with a loud burst of laughter.

Next up was Wanda, and her caption stated she had finished her college classes and was starting a small design house with her brother Pietro. She also ran lessons to teach kids and students some basic sewing skills. Steve congratulated her, and she shrugged with a smile through the wave of claps on the back from those around her.

Carol’s picture was of her and her wife standing with their kid. Monica was wearing the  _ Captain Marvel _ costume Carol had made in children’s week, and all three of them were grinning. The caption declared that she was sewing daily, making clothes for herself and her family, and fielding requests from friends and neighbours who had seen her on the show. Sam laughed at that, agreeing that there had been an influx of demands for new clothes from everyone he knew.

Sam’s picture showed him at his sewing machine, caption suggesting he was happily working on a series of costume designs he planned to release in time for halloween.

Natasha’s was cryptic, just saying she was working, sewing, and making the most of her time in the aftermath of the Sewing Bee.

Then it was Steve’s turn. He and Bucky had discussed what he should say about himself there, and finally decided to just be honest about it. The picture was of him and Bucky together, arms around each other in the park. Bucky was wearing the peacoat Steve had made in vintage week.

_ Steve’s art career is still going strong, and he still spends his free time sewing… both for himself and his new boyfriend. _

Shuri mimed retching, and there was a roar of mingled amusement and friendly mocking from their friends, but Steve just smiled soppily at Bucky until the picture changed to one of Shuri in her dorm room, sewing machine wedged into a corner in between stacks of books.

Her caption explained that she had started college, and sewed whenever she could in between study sessions. She planned to join Wanda during summers and breaks to teach sewing, and wanted to have her own line of clothing some day.

The screen went blank, and the credits started to roll. The room gradually picked up in volume as everyone started to talk again, discussing the episode and the experience overall. 

Steve was surprised when Sam and Natasha were the first to leave, and he raised an eyebrow at them when they said they were off. Natasha smirked, and Steve thought he saw Sam blush before he turned away to grab his coat. 

“Wait a second." He looked between them, noticing something which hasn't been there before. " _ Wait a second,  _ are you two...?” 

“Bye, Steve!” Natasha blew a kiss and led Sam by the arm to the door. Steve turned to Bucky with an incredulous look on his face, and Bucky just shrugged.

“Did you know about this?” Steve demanded, and Bucky waved his hand in a so-so gesture.

“I had an inkling. Didn’t know if it was actually a thing yet or not." Steve took a moment to text them both a series of emojis, demanding that they meet up the next day to talk about this. They had teased him enough over Bucky, he deserved a chance to get his own back on them.

Everyone else left gradually after that, and then it was just the two of them again. 

“That was fun,” Steve commented, reclining on the sofa as Bucky closed the door on the last of the guests.

“Yeah, it was.” Bucky sat next to him and Steve shifted so they were leaning into each other.

“What do you think twitter is saying right now?” Steve mused, imagining the response to the end card, and Bucky shrugged.

“Does it matter?” he asked, and Steve shook his head.

“Guess not.” They left their phones in the living room and retreated to Bucky’s bed, clothes discarded haphazardly along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been such a fun project over the last couple of months! Thank you so much to all of you who commented and left kudos along the way, or anyone who read the whole thing together, it means so much to me that my random brainwave while watching Sewing Bee at home was even a little bit entertaining to anyone else.  
> This is the longest fic I've ever posted/completed and I can't believe it's over!  
> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Nerds_) and [Tumblr](https://rainbow-nerdss.tumblr.com/) if you want to hear about projects I'm working on, and cry with me about these dumbasses! It's also where i'll be posting any supplementary sketches and designs I decide to do for this 'verse! (Shuri and Nat's Finale gowns? Sam's Falcon wings? who knows!

**Author's Note:**

> (I don't actually sew beyond the very basics, so let me know if there's anything absolutely nonsensical in this! Most of my info comes from the Sewing Bee itself, and the majority of tasks will be inspired by ones which have previously been on the show)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Cover Art] On your marks, get set, sew! by Rainbow_Nerds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590694) by [Nospheratt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nospheratt/pseuds/Nospheratt)




End file.
